Creator of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, Merv Griffin dies at age 82 of prostate cancer.
Rest in Peace.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Merv Griffin, the entertainer turned impresario who parlayed his "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" game shows into a multimillion- dollar empire, has died. He was 82.
Griffin died of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his the family that was released by Marcia Newberger, spokeswoman for The Griffin Group/Merv Griffin Entertainment.
TIME LINE:
1925
Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. is born on July 6th in San Mateo, a suburb of San Francisco.
1945
At 19, he lands a singing gig on the nationally-syndicated "San Francisco Sketchbook" on KFRC radio. Within two days, the program is renamed "The Merv Griffin Show" and Merv soon earns $1,100 a week.
1946
The entertainer/entrepreneur forms Panda Records. His "Songs By Merv Griffin" enters record books as the first U.S. album produced on magnetic tape. (It can be heard today at the Ampex Museum at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA)
1948
Famous orchestra leader Freddy Martin, a fan of Merv's KFRC show, recruits him to tour as his big-band singer. At the fabled Cocoanut Grove nightclub, he becomes a favorite of Howard Hughes and the biggest stars in Hollywood.
1950
His pseudo-Cockney version of "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" goes to #1 on the charts and sells 3 million copies. Other hit records follow.
1952-1955
Merv gets Warner Bros. film contract, thanks to Doris Day, and stars with Kathryn Grayson in "So This Is Love." Their open-mouthed kiss--the first in film history--causes a stir.
Merv moves to New York, where he stars in "Finian's Rainbow" on Broadway and embarks on successful career as emcee and guest star, appearing regularly on "The Jack Paar Show" and "The Arthur Murray Show," among others.
1958
Top game-show producers Goodson-Todman hire Merv for "Play Your Hunch," a format which allows him to ad-lib with guests like Bob Hope and the Three Stooges.
1962
After subbing for Jack Paar in the summer, ratings soar. NBC creates "The Merv Griffin Show."
1963
NBC gets 160,000 letters of protest in less than 2 weeks when it cancels Merv's show. Network gets him back on the air as soon as possible with "Word for Word," a game show Merv creates, and gives him his own production company.
1964
"Jeopardy!"--still the most successful game show in TV history--goes on the air.
1965-1986
From 1965 to 1969, "The Merv Griffin Show" is a 90-minute Group W syndication. It continues on CBS as a one-hour late night show until the end of 1971, becoming the first major talk show to move to Hollywood. The fifth and final incarnation of "The Merv Griffin Show" is syndicated by Metromedia, and remains a favorite until 1986 when Merv decides to end his 23-year run after more than 5,500 shows and 25,000 interviews.
1975
Merv creates "Wheel of Fortune."
1986
Coca-Cola subsidiary, Columbia Pictures Entertainment, buys Merv Griffin Enterprises for $250 million.
1987-Now
Merv establishes The Griffin Group. Owns The Beverly Hilton from 1987 to December 2003, and successfully buys and sells 17 radio stations, 6 casino resorts and 22 hotels, but retains Galway's St. Clerans Manor House. Merv Griffin Entertainment creates and sells numerous television and film projects. Other Griffin Group entities include Teleview Racing Patrol, the Griffin Ranch in La Quinta., The Merv Griffin Ranch racing stable, Worldwide L.P. residential real estate brokerage, and Coconut Productions.
2000
Merv donates his $10 million Wickenburg Inn & Dude Ranch in Arizona to Childhelp USA to help abused children.
2005
Adding to numerous other honors, Merv gets his 17th Emmy--a Lifetime Achievement--and is feted the same week at a Gala Tribute by the Museum of Television and Radio in New York. Two weeks earlier, he receives an Honorary Doctorate from the National University of Ireland. His Merv Griffin rose, which he dedicates to the Young Musicians Foundation, debuts in October. Merv becomes Chairman of the Board of The Young Musicians Foundation and arranges for the Symphony Orchestra of young players to perform for President and Mrs. Bush as well as Nancy Reagan and other dignitaries at dedication of Air Force One at the Reagan Library.
Merv's Thoroughbred Stevie Wonderboy wins the Breeders' Club Juvenile and is named Best 2 Year Old by sportswriters.
2006
Special Edition DVD of "The Merv Griffin Show: 40 of the Most Interesting People of Our Time" is released with Merv's all-new anecdotal remembrances released in April. Merv attends dedication of The Merv Griffin Quad at San Mateo High School, his first visit to his Alma Mater since graduation in 1942. "Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead" becomes one of Lifetime Television's biggest hits.
2007
Merv creates a new syndicated game show strip, Merv Griffin's Crosswords. He is honored by the City of La Quinta and the La Quinta Arts Foundation. Childhelp dedicates its Beaumont, California live-in facility for severely abused children as Childhelp USA's Merv Griffin Village. The 11 model homes for Griffin Ranch open, and the Griffin Club to have Grand Opening.
MERV GRIFFIN. Born in San Mateo, California, U.S.A., 6 July 1925. Educated at San Mateo Junior College and the University of San Francisco, 1942-44; honorary L.H.D. from Emerson College, 1981. Married Julann Elizabeth Wright, 1958 (divorced 1976), children: Anthony Patrick. Singer, San Francisco radio station KFRC, 1945-48; vocalist, Freddy Martin's Orchestra, 1948-51; appeared in motion pictures for Warner Brothers, 1953-54; headlined quarter-hour twice-weekly musical segments for CBS, 1954-55; hosted CBS' Look Up and Live, 1953; radio show host, ABC, 1957; host of daytime game show Play Your Hunch, 1958-61, host of Merv Griffin Show, 1962-63; founded Merv Griffin Productions which began producing Jeopardy, 1964, and the Griffin-hosted Word for Word, 1963; hosted the Merv Griffin Show for Westinghouse, 1965-69, CBS, 1969-72, and syndication, 1972-86; chair of the board of Merv Griffin Productions; continues to produce Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Recipient: numerous Emmy Awards. Address: Merv Griffin Enterprises, 9860 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, California 90210, U.S.A.
TELEVISION SERIES
1951 The Freddy Martin Show
1953 Look Up and Live
1954 Summer Holiday (regular)
1958-61 Play Your Hunch
1959-60 Keep Talking
1962-63 Merv Griffin Show (NBC)
1963 Word For Word
1963 Talent Scouts
1964-75; 1978-79;
1984- Jeopardy! (producer)
1965-69 Merv Griffin Show (Westinghouse)
1969-72 Merv Griffin Show
1972-86 Merv Griffin Show (syndicated)
1975- Wheel of Fortune (producer)
1979-87 Dance Fever (producer)
1990 Monopoly (producer)
TELEVISION SPECIALS
1960 Biography of a Boy
1968 Merv Griffin's Sidewalks of New England
1968 Merv Griffin's St. Patrick's Day Special
1973 Merv Griffin and the Christmas Kids
1989 The 75th Anniversary of Beverly Hills
1991 Merv Griffin's New Year's Eve Special
FILMS
By the Light of the Silvery Moon, 1953; So This Is Love, 1953; Boy From Oklahoma, 1953; Phantom of the Rue Morgue, 1954; Hello Down There, 1968; Two Minute Warning, 1976; Seduction of Joe Tynan, 1979; The Man With Two Brains, 1983; The Lonely Guy, 1984; Slapstick of Another Kind, 1982
.