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When Garry Marshall appeared before TV critics to promote CBS' "Odd Couple" reboot last year, the then-80-year-old positively dominated the room with his energy and enthusiasm.

He told one story that still makes me smile — a story about the original "Odd Couple" sitcom, which he produced for ABC from 1970-75.

"The network was so afraid that the audience would think there were two gay characters," he said. "Every week they said, 'Put more girls in!'

"So I used to shoot little moments where [stars Jack Klugman and Tony Randall] hugged and kissed, and sent it to the network just to make them crazy."

It's a great memory. It's what I thought of when I heard the news that the television legend died Tuesday at age 81.

Yes, he directed movies — including "Beaches," "Runaway Bride" and "The Princess Diaries" — but he was a creature of TV. He wrote episodes of "Make Room for Daddy," "The Lucy Show" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show." He produced (sometimes wrote and sometimes directed) "Happy Days," "Laverne & Shirley" and "Mork & Mindy," among others.

And he was an absolute hoot in a recurring role as network chief Stan Lansing on "Murphy Brown."

I got to chat with him a few times over the years. Do I have a great job or what?

In my 26 years covering TV, I've interviewed hundreds (thousands?) of stars, and a few legends. Here are a few of my favorite memories:

Roy Rogers • Are you kidding me? Rogers (1911-1998) was an American icon!

What I remember most was the King of the Cowboys getting choked up when he spoke of discovering long-forgotten home movies of his daughter with wife Dale Evans. Robin, who had Down syndrome, died at age 2. And the home movies gave Evans — who was recovering from a heart attack — "a reason to still want to live."

It was very emotional.

And the fact that Rogers also teared up a bit when he talked about his horse, Trigger, didn't detract from that moment at all.

Maureen O'Hara • The Irish redhead (1920-2015) was a movie star, but she did several TV movies late in her career. I talked to her three times, and she was unfailingly charming.

My favorite memory is her telling me that the producers of "The Christmas Box" provided her with an extravagant dressing room/trailer that lacked a makeup chair and makeup mirror, which made it "no damn good" for work.

They got her a trailer half the size that had the chair and the mirror and she was happy.

Bob Hope • I talked to Hope (1903-2003) several times; the last was a phone interview. He was vague about the special he was promoting, but spoke with great gusto about things that had happened in the 1940s. Years later, I had similar conversations with my father, whose memory was fading.

Hope was a legend; I was nobody; he was nice to me.

Mickey Rooney and Red Buttons • I talked to Rooney (1920-2014) several times, and he was always manic. He loved talking, and what he loved talking about the most was himself.

At a news conference for an edition of PBS' "Pioneers of Television," Rooney ran roughshod over Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Rose Marie and Red Buttons (1919-2006). All of them gave Rooney a hard time for his nonstop bragging, but Buttons was the most pointed.

When Rooney interrupted his monologue about himself to introduce his eighth (and final) wife, Buttons interjected, "Mickey, introduce your mistress too. I think it would be a nice gesture on your part."

I have rarely laughed so hard.

Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.