Merv Griffin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Merv Griffin
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Griffin c. 1995
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| Born |
Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr.
July 6, 1925 San Mateo, California, U.S.
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| Died | August 12, 2007 (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Resting place | Westwood Village Memorial Park, U.S. |
| Occupation | Television show host, media mogul |
| Years active | 1944–2007 |
| Spouse(s) |
Julann Wright
(m. 1958; div. 1976) |
| Children | 1 |
Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was a famous American television host and a very successful businessman in the TV world. He started as a singer on radio and with big bands. Later, he acted in movies and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986, he hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show. He also created the popular game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune through his companies, Merv Griffin Enterprises and Merv Griffin Entertainment.
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Merv Griffin's Early Life
Merv Griffin was born on July 6, 1925, in San Mateo, California. His father, Mervyn Edward Griffin Sr., was a stockbroker, and his mother, Rita Elizabeth Griffin, was a homemaker. He had an older sister named Barbara. When Merv was a child, he often played Hangman with his sister during family road trips. These games later inspired him to create the game show Wheel of Fortune in 1975.
His family was Irish American. Merv was raised as a Catholic and began singing in his church choir as a boy. By his teenage years, he earned extra money as a church organist. His skills as a pianist helped him get an early start in show business.
He went to San Mateo High School, graduating in 1942. He continued his education at San Mateo Junior College and then the University of San Francisco. He was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. During World War II, Merv was not able to join the military because of a slight heart murmur. Later, during the Korean War, he was found healthy enough to serve, but he was too old for the draft.
Merv Griffin's Career in Entertainment
Singing Career and Early TV
Merv Griffin started his career as a singer on the radio at age 19. He appeared on San Francisco Sketchbook, a show broadcast across the country from KFRC. When he was younger, he was overweight. This sometimes surprised radio fans when they saw him in person. He later wrote in his autobiography that there was an effort to keep his appearance a secret. He decided to change this and lost 80 pounds in four months.
Freddy Martin, a bandleader, heard Merv on the radio. He asked Merv to tour with his orchestra, which Merv did for four years. By 1945, Merv had saved enough money to start his own record label, Panda Records. This label produced Songs by Merv Griffin, which was the first U.S. album ever recorded on magnetic tape. In 1947, he had a 15-minute singing show on KFRC in San Francisco, airing every weekday.
He became very popular in nightclubs. His fame grew even more with his 1950 hit song, "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts". This song reached the number one spot on the Hit Parade and sold three million copies.
A famous actress, Doris Day, discovered Merv at one of his nightclub shows. Day helped him get a screen test at Warner Bros. Studios for a movie called By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953). Merv did not get that specific role, but the screen test led to other parts in musical films like So This Is Love (also 1953). He also had a small, uncredited role as a radio announcer in the horror film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953).
Merv also appeared in The Boy from Oklahoma and Phantom of the Rue Morgue (both 1954). However, he became tired of making movies. He bought his contract back from Warner Bros. and decided to focus on a new exciting medium: television.
In 1954, Merv hosted a new TV show for CBS-TV called Summer Holiday. This show was a temporary replacement for other programs during the summer. It featured live music and pretended to take viewers on a trip around the world.
Hosting Game Shows
From 1958 to 1962, Merv Griffin hosted Play Your Hunch, a game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. It aired mostly on NBC. He also hosted a game show on ABC called Keep Talking. He sometimes filled in for other hosts on shows like The Price Is Right and To Tell the Truth. In 1963, NBC asked him to host a new game show, Word for Word, which Merv also produced.
Hosting Talk Shows
Merv Griffin got a big break when Tonight Show host Jack Paar accidentally walked onto the set of Play Your Hunch during a live show. Merv got him to stay for a quick interview. Both shows shared the same studio at NBC. After Jack Paar left The Tonight Show, Merv was one of the many guest hosts. He was considered the most successful guest host. Because of this, he got his own daytime talk show on NBC in 1962. This live show was 55 minutes long, but it was not very successful and was canceled in 1963.
In 1965, Merv launched a new talk show called The Merv Griffin Show. It was shown on many different TV stations across North America. Some stations aired it during the day, others in the evening. Merv's announcer and sidekick was a British actor named Arthur Treacher. When Treacher left the show in 1970, Merv did the announcing himself. He would walk onto the stage saying, "And now... here I come!" The Merv Griffin Show ran for 21 years and won eleven Emmy Awards.
The show featured a wide variety of guests. These included entertainers, authors, politicians, and famous personalities. Merv also invited guests who sometimes caused controversy, like George Carlin and Richard Pryor. He was praised for having such guests, but also criticized. For example, when philosopher and anti-war activist Bertrand Russell spoke against the war in Vietnam on the show, Merv was criticized for letting him speak. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who later became the governor of California, made his first U.S. talk show appearance on Merv's show in 1974.
Merv was very interested in Transcendental Meditation and its founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He dedicated two shows to this topic in 1975 and 1977. Merv himself was an enthusiastic meditator. He often chatted with audience members on his show. One regular audience member, Lillian Miller, became a well-known part of the show.
Robert (Bob) Murphy, Merv's best friend since sixth grade, was the producer of The Merv Griffin Show. He later became the president of Merv Griffin Enterprises.
In 1969, CBS gave Merv a late-night show to compete with Johnny Carson. This three-year period at CBS was difficult. The network was uncomfortable with some of Merv's guests, who often spoke about sensitive topics like the Vietnam War. Merv disliked the censorship from CBS and complained about it.
Merv realized his time at CBS was ending. He secretly signed a contract with another company, Metromedia. This deal would give him a syndicated daytime talk show as soon as CBS canceled his show. When he was fired a few months later, his new show started the very next Monday. It ran until the mid-1980s. By 1986, Merv was ready to retire. The money he made from his very successful game shows made him one of the richest entertainers in the world.
Merv Griffin: Game Show Creator
Merv Griffin created and produced the very successful television game show Jeopardy! in 1964.
The show was first called What's the Question?. It started on NBC on March 30, 1964, with Art Fleming as the host. It ran for 11 years. Merv Griffin wrote the 30-second music piece heard during the show's Final Jeopardy! Round. This music became the famous theme for the later version of the show hosted by Alex Trebek in 1984.
In 1975, NBC canceled Jeopardy!. Merv then produced the show's replacement, Wheel of Fortune. It started on January 6, 1975, with Chuck Woolery as host and Susan Stafford as hostess. The show had very high ratings.
Wheel of Fortune almost got canceled in 1980. However, it became a huge hit when a nighttime version started on September 19, 1983. This version was hosted by Pat Sajak and Vanna White. Around that time, Merv composed the show's most famous theme song, "Changing Keys."
Two new versions of Jeopardy! were later produced. One was on NBC in 1978/1979, with Art Fleming returning as host. The other started in 1984, starring Alex Trebek. Both the syndicated versions of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are still on the air today.
In 1990, Merv tried to turn the board game Monopoly into a game show, but it was not successful. His last game show was a wild show called Ruckus. It took place at the Resorts International Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, which he owned at the time. This show involved funny stunts. It was shown locally in New York first, but it was canceled before it could be shown across the country.
When he retired, Merv sold his production company, Merv Griffin Enterprises, to Columbia Pictures Television for US$250 million on May 6, 1986. At the time, this was the largest sale of an entertainment company owned by one person. Forbes magazine called Merv Griffin the richest Hollywood performer in history. He still kept the title of creator for both of his famous game shows.
His two successful game shows led to many spin-off programs. Merv often worked as a creative consultant for these. They included children's shows like Wheel 2000 (1997) and Jep! (1998). There was also Rock & Roll Jeopardy! (1998) for music fans, and Click!, which introduced Ryan Seacrest as a host.
In 2003, Merv Griffin received the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) President's Award. This was for creating some of America's most famous game show melodies. In 2007, Merv Griffin's production company, Merv Griffin Entertainment, started a new game show called Merv Griffin's Crosswords. It began airing on September 10, 2007, but only lasted one season.
Merv Griffin's Business Ventures
Merv Griffin also got into the real estate business. He bought the famous Beverly Hilton Hotel in 1987.
In 1988, he bought Resorts International and two of their hotels. One was in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the other was on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. He bought these from Donald Trump and other investors. Merv Griffin owned the hotel-casino for about ten months.
Merv Griffin owned a ranch near La Quinta, California, where he raised thoroughbred racehorses. He also owned St. Clerans Manor, a special hotel in an old estate in Ireland. In the 1980s, Merv bought the Paradise Island Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. He later sold it. After selling his TV empire in 1986, Merv went on to buy many hotels. By 2003, his wealth was estimated to be around $1.2 billion.
Merv Griffin's Personal Life
Merv Griffin was married to Julann Wright from 1958 to 1976. They remained good friends after their divorce. They had one son, Tony Griffin, who was born in 1959. Tony later had two children of his own.
Merv once said about being wealthy, "when you walk down the street and everybody knows you're rich, they don't talk to you." He kept his wealth a bit of a secret, building a huge fortune from his media companies, hotels, and casinos. He said he didn't know his exact worth because it "would keep me from sleeping at night."
Merv Griffin and First Lady Nancy Reagan shared the same birthday, July 6. They exchanged birthday greetings every year. Merv was a close friend of the Reagans for many years. He was an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of President Ronald Reagan in 2004. Merv was a longtime member of the Republican Party.
Honors and Awards
In 1974, Merv Griffin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998, he received a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in Palm Springs. In 2005, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the National University of Ireland, Galway. In 2008, after his death, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
Illness and Death
Merv Griffin had prostate cancer, which was first treated in 1996. The cancer returned, and he was admitted to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. His health got worse, and he passed away on August 12, 2007, at the age of 82.
His funeral was held on August 17, 2007, in Beverly Hills. Many famous people attended, including Nancy Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who gave a speech with Merv's son, Tony Griffin. Other attendees included Maria Shriver, Pat Sajak, Vanna White, Alex Trebek, Dick Van Dyke, and Ellen DeGeneres. Merv's 7-year-old grandson, Donovan Mervyn, was an honorary pallbearer, as was Nancy Reagan. His 12-year-old granddaughter, Farah, gave a reading. A reception after the burial was held at the Beverly Hilton, a hotel Merv had owned. He was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. His epitaph on his grave reads, "I will not be right back after this message."
GSN honored Merv Griffin by showing ten-episode marathons of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! during the weekend of August 18–19, 2007.
Selected Popular Songs
Some of the songs Merv Griffin recorded include:
- "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts"
- "Christmas City"
- "Wilhelmina"
- "Never Been Kissed"
- "The Charanga"
- "Banned in Boston"
- "Happy To Know You"
- "Think!" (the long-time theme music for Jeopardy!)
- "Changing Keys" (the long-time theme music for Wheel of Fortune)
Images for kids
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TV game show Play Your Hunch (1958) with host Griffin and Liz Gardner
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TV game show Keep Talking (1959) with host Griffin, Morey Amsterdam, Audrey Meadows and Danny Dayton
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Griffin (right) and sidekick Arthur Treacher in 1969
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Griffin interviewing President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan in 1983
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Merv Griffin Way with the Beverly Hilton in the background
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Griffin's grave, located at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles, California
See also
In Spanish: Merv Griffin para niños
