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Merv Griffin reaches only 3.9 million viewers, Mike Douglas 3.7 and Dinah Shore 2.8 million. [48] In 2005 he accepted the degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the National University of Ireland, Galway; and in 2008 was posthumously inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. . Many well known and highly identifiable actresses have tried and failed to make the arduous crossover from fizzy TV sitcom star to mature, dramatic artist. Having just hit bookstores, Porter is on a media tour a stop that includesCindy Adams column. After eight years he quit and tried his hand as a traveling salesman. His charges are ridiculous and untrue. In yet another stunner, the book claims Griffin - who died in 2007 at age 82 - carried on a longtime affair with Hollywood heavyweight Marlon Brando. After 17 years, his wife left him. On his retirement, Griffin sold his production company, Merv Griffin Enterprises, to Columbia Pictures Televisionthen a unit of The Coca-Cola Companyfor US$250million on May 6, 1986. Both programs shared Studio 6B at NBC's Rockefeller Center complex at the time, with Play Your Hunch airing live in the morning while Tonight taped later in the day. [35][36] After ten months of ownership, Griffin reported a loss of $46.6 million. Eva Gabor and Merv Griffin were in a relationship for 10 years before Eva Gabor died aged 76.. About. Donahue calls himself a "shy, insecure, vulnerable man-child." But how tremendously sad it is that a man of Mervs renown, of his gregarious nature and social dexterity, would feel compelled to endure such a stealthy double life even as the gay communitys clout, and its levels of acceptance and equality, rose steadily from the ashes of ignorance. Maybe you know about Merv Griffin very well But do you know how old was he at the time of his death and what is his net worth in 2023? And for good reason: "In an attempt to be honest you pay a price," he said -- afraid that his popular image may self-destruct in the confessional heat of his first book, "Donahue: My Own Story. The result is staccato silence between phrases -- quite unlike his fast-moving, loquacious television image. Wheel barely escaped cancellation in 1980, when NBC replaced three of its other game shows with a daytime talk show starring David Letterman. Their meeting was later described as love at first sight, and by 1980, the pair were married! Donahue denied the rumors by signing a six-year contract to continue independent production. Merv Griffin spent decades as a beloved talk-show host but the gay game-show mogul was also a pioneer in Hollywood sexual-harassment cases! No name. He usually has only one guest and discusses only one topic. Involving slapstick stunts and a somewhat truncated version of his old Reach for the Stars, it initially aired locally in New York, with the intent of national syndication early the following year. As a regular performer on The Arthur Murray Party (1950), The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (1957) and others, he was offered the opportunity to host his own television series, Play Your Hunch (1958). However, in 1997 she thought she still had a chance, but she and Phil never had any of their own. He had short grey hair and brown eyes, his height was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) and he weighed around 175lbs (80kgs). COPYRIGHT 2020 By TheLifeandTimesofHollywood.com, Stories From The Life and Times of Hollywood. in 1964. Merv Griffin was in relationships with Eva Gabor (1985 - 1995), Natalie Trundy (1959) and May Wynn (1953). Brynn Hartman Struggled with Self-Esteem and Her Husband's Absence Who Was Phil Hartman's Wife? Men, he says, "have done an awful lot of oppression. On November 21, 2022, Marlo Thomas celebrated her birthday by turning 85! The Wheel marathon included two episodes with cameo appearances by Griffin: Sajak's departure from the daytime version in 1989 and a 199293 episode that ended with Griffin, his band "The MervTones," and White singing at a dinner club in Orlando, Florida. From that moment, "Donahue" became an audience-participation program. The two powerhouses spun off numerous programs, for which Griffin often signed on as a creative consultant. After 13 seasons as a daytime talk show host, Griffin retired from his talk show in 1986 to devote himself to producing his highly profitable game shows.Jeopardy! His abilities as a pianist played a part in his early entry into show business. ", "Controversy is not a dirty word," he says. She explained how she'd tried to portray a first for television - a young girl who wasn't thinking about marriage and instead about who she could be in the world. He feels akin to a large corporation. She is most remembered for Lisa Douglas on Green Acres. Peter Graves, Marlo Thomas, Barbara Eden, Della Reese, Roger Ray: With Merv Griffin, Barbara Eden, Peter Graves, Mort Lindsey. Some guests receive a silent, comforting pat on the hand. He's not afraid to sound stupid, either. If the station manager objects to a particular program, Donahue argues, but he will supply a back-up. She recalled one of the questions he asked her, saying: "And he said to me, 'How come you've never married?' His funeral was held at the Church of Good Shepherd in Beverley Hills which was attended by several celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jack Klugman and Catherine Oxenberg. The competition is tough -- young, energetic hosts are constantly clawing for national access, and even the long-popular Mike Douglas was recently canceled. Sometime during the first two weeks -- Donahue can't remember when or why -- he walked into the audience and offered the microphone to a woman in the sixth row, who stood up and asked a question. He owned a ranch near La Quinta, California where he raised thoroughbred racehorses, and St. Clerans Manor, a boutique hotel in an eighteenth-century estate once owned by director John Huston, near Craughwell, in County Galway, Ireland. During the World War II, he was found to have a slight heart murmur because of which he failed several military examinations. when actress Marlo Thomas . Donahue's worst programs are with a Norman Mailer or a Ted Kennedy. By 1976 he'd been canceled three times in New York, the nation's top market, and sadly decided he'd "become a candidate for a trivia contest two decades hence.". [6], Griffin and First Lady Nancy Reagan exchanged birthday greetings each July 6 for their shared birthday. "They see in me a way to produce some income. [11] In 1947, he had a 15-minute Monday-to-Friday singing program on KFRC in San Francisco. And as any law student knows, you cant libel the dead. In 1990, Griffin had an ambitious but unsuccessful attempt at adapting the venerable board game Monopoly into a game show of the same name. "Even if there's spinach in my teeth, it goes," Donahue says. "It's no mystery to me why they are so conservative," Donahue says. In his book Merv, written with David Bender in 2003, he stated that it would be "Stay Tuned".). [32][34] After Trump paid $101 million for Resorts International Inc. in 1987, Griffin bought it back from him for $365 million and assumed the hotel-casino's debt of $925 million on November 15, 1988. Being born on 6 July 1925, Merv Griffin was 82 years . Less than half an hour after that report would have been aired, WNBC in New York (owned by the network) broadcast an hour-long "Donahue" on the same subject. The star complained at the time that no one asked men if they wanted to be fathers of doctors, and she felt women's choices shouldn't be that linear either because she wanted it all. Griffin was best known for creating the two most popular game shows in television syndication history, Wheel of Fortune (1983) and Jeopardy! In 1969 "Donahue" (until 1974 called "The Phil Donahue Show") entered national syndication, but half a decade later his salesman quit because the show was stuck at around 40 markets and "just couldn't sell." Why not do a switch, and give the answers to the contestant and let them come up with the question. The audience quickly picks up his rhythm. Instead, she became a friend of the four boys', and when she got to know them and vice versa, they trusted her and accepted her in their lives. And now hes doing it to Griffin withMerv Griffin: a Life in the Closet. Also, he founded two TV production organizations Merv Griffin Entertainment and Merv Griffin Enterprises. ", In perhaps the most unusual move, the "Today" show recently refused a Donahue report on new methods of treatment for impotent men. Arnold Schwarzenegger, later 38th governor of California, made his U.S. talk show debut on Griffin's show in 1974 after emigrating from Austria. NBC finally cancelled it in 1989, when CBS picked it up for a year (only to return to NBC, when the daytime version was finally cancelled permanently in 1991). Tony Griffin appeared in the movies Evil Laugh in 1986, Spaceballs in 1987, Aspen. "Obviously it's complicated," Donahue says. I said, I just don't believe it's for me.". But he should also be held up as man who, like Malcolm Forbes before him, was hugely influential and powerful and yet still allowed the closet and homophobia to manipulate his life, and to cause him to do harm to his own people. Aug. 12, 2007 -- Merv Griffin, who parlayed a talent for talk and entertainment into a one-man business conglomerate, died of cancer early this morning. He did it for Katharine Hepburn. That year, Brent Plott, a longtime employee who worked as a bodyguard, horse trainer and driver, filed a $200million palimony lawsuit, which was also dismissed. The theme returned to the show in 2021 at the start of season 39. Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. The Merv Griffin Show (TV Series 1962-1986) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. and Wheel remain on the air today. (1984) He had also been the recipient of the coveted Scopus Award from the American Friends of Hebrew University, "The Duke Award" presented by the John Wayne Cancer Institute, and he had been honored by the American Ireland Fund and the SHARE organization. It taped in Los Angeles after initial reports that it would be produced at WMAQ-TV in Chicago. Dayton provided another important impetus to success. He married Julann Griffin, whom he divorced after some time. And yet, because he was closeted it is highly unlikely he ever made the connection for the Reagans (between himself and those who were suffering and dying), pointed out the government negligence, or even talked openly as a gay person. He also produced Let's Play Post Office for NBC in 1965, Reach for the Stars for NBC in 1967, and One in a Million for ABC in 1967. There was one major difference, though. He didn't need CBS, NBC or ABC. Brent Plott, who had been his employee, also accused him of harassment. They had a deep conversation about divorce, marriage, and children; they were both Catholic. In 1991, he was sued by TV host Deney Terrio alleging sexual harassment. In 2007, Griffin's production company, Merv Griffin Entertainment, began production on a new syndicated game show, Merv Griffin's Crosswords (originally titled Let's Play Crosswords and Let's Do Crosswords). Type. Can I put on Barry Goldwater, who thinks we ought to drop nuclear bombs? Mervyn Edward Merv Griffin Jr. was born on July 6, 1925, in San Mateo, California. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. . The deal was signed in secret as a penalty clause in his CBS contract gave him $1 million in the event of his being fired. Merv Griffin was married to Julann Griffin from 1959 to 1976. While Carson's style was indebted to his long apprenticeship in Los Angeles in the 1950s, Griffin was based in New York, where he socialized with New York's theater and caf crowds. . And not everybody who's a good television persona necessarily knows what they're talking about.". He died on August 12, 2007. Paul had already signed Grove for the show and was looking for a male co-host. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and numerous Emmy Awards, out of which it won eleven. There is a story in Queer in America about a man identified as The Mogul who did just that. He was a famous but unsuccesssful single until 1977, when actress Marlo Thomas made her second appearance on his program. "Today's subsequent instructions to Donahue: "No clinical sex.". Even though they divorced, they continued being good friends. and Wheel of Fortune through his production companies, Merv Griffin Enterprises and Merv Griffin Entertainment. [35] He had used $325 million in junk bond financing at nearly 14% from Drexel Burnham Lambert's Michael Milken, but suspended interest payments in early 1989. Griffin was born July 6, 1925, in San Mateo, California, to Mervyn Edward Griffin Sr., a stockbroker, and Rita Elizabeth Griffin (ne Robinson),[3] a homemaker. Round, which became the iconic melody of the theme for the syndicated version of the show hosted by Alex Trebek in 1984. Two revivals of Jeopardy! He married his college sweetheart in 1958, right after graduation. However, she explained she thought in hers but didn't have the same feelings toward the institution of marriage because she wasn't sure it was "rigged against the woman. He was also close friends with Actress and former First Lady of the United States, Nancy Reagan, with who he shares the same birthdate, July 6. There is no wise-cracking sidekick, band, desk or ashtray. Public response wasn't always entirely pleasant, but continued commercial success gave Donahue confidence. [37][38] Cashflow was about $70 million short of what was needed to service the Resorts' debt in 1989,[34] and Griffin sought bankruptcy court protection for Resorts on December 23, 1989.[39]. General Info. . "To say 'yes' to that question flatters me," he says, pausing to look at the wall as though hoping to see the proper answer. From 1958 to 1962, Griffin hosted Play Your Hunch, a game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. "I have come to the point where I am at peace with my own imperfection in terms of understanding it, and I am enjoying the business of wondering.".