Dead, Not Forgotten

Merv Griffin was at the forefront of some of the most visible industries of the second half of the 20th century. His multi-decade success as a talk show host, the wildly successful game shows his production company created and his well publicized deals in the real estate industry made him a standout among his peers.

After a childhood of entertaining the neighborhood and producing “shows” with the local kids, Griffin began his professional career as a singer when he was 19 on San Francisco Sketchbook, a nationally syndicated radio program based at KFRC in San Francisco. Being overweight at the time, Griffin did not easily move on from radio. After trimming down, however, he started a four year stint as a singer known for his good looks with big band leader Freddy Martin. Soon his entrepreneurial spirit kicked into high gear and he launched his own record label, Panda Records. His release Songs by Merv Griffin is reported to be the first American album recorded on magnetic tape.

After considerable success in the music business, including his hit “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts”, which sold over three million copies, a chance nightclub performance in front of Doris Day started him on the next step in his career when she helped him land a screen test at Warner Bros. and subsequent film roles.

In the late 50s Merv Griffin began what would become the first of the three major paths of his career; the game show business. He started as a host, first on the Mark Goodson and Bill Todman production called Play Your Hunch and then on an evening game show for ABC called Keep Talking.

Luck came his way when Jack Paar mistakenly walked on the live set of Play Your Hunch and launched him on the second major path of his career: television talk shows. Griffin took advantage of the moment and got an impromptu, walk through interview with Paar and soon was invited to substitute for Paar on The Tonight Show. His own daytime talk show followed, but soon failed. NBC offered him a new game show to host and produce, Word for Word, in 1963. The next year his production company created the iconic Jeopardy! which still enjoys great success.

When NBC canceled Jeopardy! in 1975, a short lived situation, Griffin produced the show’s successor, Wheel of Fortune. Though it was only moderately successful in its original version, a syndicated version starring Pat Sajak and Vanna White is a television mainstay to this day.

Meanwhile, back in 1965, Griffin also began a nearly non-stop presence as a talk show host on American TV that ended in 1986 when he retired from is then long running The Merv Griffin Show and sold his production company, Merv Griffin Enterprises, to Columbia Pictures Television unit for $250 million. His TV game show legacy turns out not to be over though. His current production company, Merv Griffin Entertainment, began pre-production on a new syndicated game show set to air in September 2007, Merv Griffin’s Crosswords.

After his retirement Griffin was quick to get bored and soon, after making considerable gains through investments he started on his third major career path in real estate. A notable event was his well publicized feud with Donald Trump for control of Resorts International, an operator of hotels and casinos from Atlantic City to the Caribbean. Griffin eventually acquired Resorts International for $240 million. Over his career in real estate he has also owned the Beverly Hilton Hotel (Beverly Hills), St. Clerans Manor (an Irish hotel), and Paradise Island (the Bahamas).

Merv Griffin’s phenomenal success in all that he tried left him one of America’s richest men.

Merv Griffin was born in San Mateo, California. He died in Los Angeles California of prostate cancer August 12, 2007. He was 82 years old. He said once that his tombstone would say, “I won’t be back after this message.”

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See Merv Griffin’s filmography

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