He became a substitute host for Jack Paar on The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (1957) and scored some of the highest ratings in the show's history. Such candor is not new to Donahue, but it usually comes from his guests and audience. Danny said the female audience was lucky to spend an hour with "two of the world's most attractive men." Griffin was married to the former Julann Wright from 1958 to 1976; they remained friends after their divorce. He was best known for hosting the Goodson/Todman classic, Play Your Hunch, and for creating the two long-running hit series, Jeopardy! The guests on the Westinghouse show were an eclectic mix of entertainers, authors, politicians, and "personality" performers like Zsa Zsa Gabor. "We don't like to discuss sex at that hour of the morning," NBC explained. We steal a lot from other shows," Donahue says. 05:12 PM ET 06/12/2014. His 7-year-old grandson Donovan Mervyn was an honorary pallbearer, as was Nancy Reagan. I noticed that my children weren't really sharing feelings with me -- and one of the reasons was I don't do a hell of a lot of sharing with them in terms of feelings. "The more drawn into the Hollywood trappings he . He became increasingly popular with nightclub audiences and his fame soared among the general public when he struck gold in 1950 with "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts", which reached the number one spot on the Hit Parade and sold three million copies.Continuing to record hits, including "Wilhelmina" and "Never Been Kissed", Griffin made a foray into motion pictures after Doris Day saw his nightclub performance and arranged a screen test for him at Warner Bros. Studios. "I'm not sure I could put Henry Kissinger on my show," Donahue says. All through his childhood, he turned out to be a brilliant pianist who became the main reason for his adoption of show business. [46] He was a longtime member of the Republican Party.[47]. Arnold Schwarzenegger, later 38th governor of California, made his U.S. talk show debut on Griffin's show in 1974 after emigrating from Austria. They likely knew, but it was unspoken, and that allowed all involved to just rationalize things to say to themselves that, well, Merv, is not like those other people, and to always believe that maybe it wasnt true anyway, and that he was truly dating Eva Gabor. [8] He wrote years later in his autobiography that there was a deliberate effort to keep the public from finding out how he looked. That was not only focused on in the Denny Terrio lawsuit against Griffin but also was something that several Hollywood gay men told me about, offering first hand experience, while I was researching Queer in America back in the early 90s and some of this (though, for legal reasons not all) is reported on in the book. Two revivals of Jeopardy! The divorce settlement gave her custody of the daughter and him the four boys. Says Donahue, "Well, what does that mean? At the time of Merv's death, his net worth was estimated at more than $1 billion. Now, someone else is doing it for him. But he is Man-Child in Television Land, and viewers get to know him not as they know Walter Cronkite, but as they know Archie Bunker and Hawkeye Pierce. Griffin himself was an enthusiastic meditator.[27]. ", Questions invariably come with the standard Donahue prefixes: "I don't want to be maudlin about this" or "It's hard to make this point without sounding a little patronizing." Their meeting was later described as love at first sight, and by 1980, the pair were married! Nonetheless, the elephant that was his sexual orientation never really stopped following Griffin from room to room. [18][19], That summer, Griffin became acquainted with music publisher Loring Buzzell. Imagine the amount of good Merv could have done as a well-respected, hugely successful, beloved and uncloseted gay man in embodying a positive image. She returned to her native New Mexico, remarried and disappeared from public view -- until now, with publication of a "family" picture in Donahue's book. The result is staccato silence between phrases -- quite unlike his fast-moving, loquacious television image. when actress Marlo Thomas . [35][36] After ten months of ownership, Griffin reported a loss of $46.6 million. This song remained a huge hit by selling 3 million copies. Merv Griffin, talk show host and game show creator, is shown on his talk show 'The Merv Griffin Show' which aired from 1962-1986 in this undated publicity photograph. They had a deep conversation about divorce, marriage, and children; they were both Catholic. He carried on assisting the school financially. You know, men and women, and 'he doesn't kiss me anymore.'". . during the weekend of August 1819, 2007. A staff of 15, mostly women, decides what gets on the show. Around the office, Mervs being gay was understood but rarely discussed (and certainly never with him). On her YouTube channel in 2012, Phil's wife confessed how no one dreamt of being a stepmother. Playing to the camera unmercifully, he leans close, interrupts, turns his back and challenges. I had more than a passing acquaintance with him, having worked on The Merv Griffin Show as a talent coordinator/segment producer in 1985-86 as the show was winding down. Subsequently, Sony Pictures Entertainment purchased Columbia and he retains the title of executive producer of both "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" Whatever the goal of any particular program, Donahue is an emotional fellow traveler -- involved, sympathetic, respectful. Merv Griffin might be best remembered as the guy who introduced Nancy Reagan to her astrologer were it not for a 1963 plane ride. Neither Cronkite nor CBS responded, a silence echoed by everyone else to whom the ambitious Donahue mailed resumes. This. "We had a woman whose baby was taken back by the adoption agency. And sometimes he's slapped down. Robert (Bob) Murphy, Griffin's best friend since sixth grade, was the producer of The Merv Griffin Show, and eventually became president of Merv Griffin Enterprises. While under contract at Warner Bros., he appeared in a number of hit movies, including So This Is Love (1953) with Kathryn Grayson and The Boy from Oklahoma (1954) with Will Rogers Jr., and Lon Chaney Jr..Television then discovered him. ", Donahue has been quoted as telling his staff, "I want all the topics hot . "There is no show without the audience," Donahue says. Wheel barely escaped cancellation in 1980, when NBC replaced three of its other game shows with a daytime talk show starring David Letterman. The show was a huge success and earned immense popularity. It was during this period that he conceived the idea for what was to become one of the most successful game shows in television history, Jeopardy! She recalled one of the questions he asked her, saying: "And he said to me, 'How come you've never married?' None of this has to be true for him to get a book deal without worrying about getting sued. Griffin dedicated two shows, in 1975 and 1977, to Transcendental Meditation and its founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In 1977, Thomas was a guest on the daytime TV television show called Donahue. He bought his contract back from Warner Bros. and decided to devote his attention to a new medium: television. Griffin created and produced the successful television game show Jeopardy! Public response wasn't always entirely pleasant, but continued commercial success gave Donahue confidence. Yet, it was nothing discussed in the media and, apparently, in many of his own circles, particularly straight political circles. [20] Buzzell died of a heart attack in 1959, but Griffin stayed close to Simms for the rest of her life and had her as a guest on his talk show many times.[22][23][24]. I began to realize that not much in the way we were raised encouraged that.". Day arranged for a screen test at the Warner Bros. Studios for a role in By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953). The show enjoyed tremendous popularity and was adapted into several international versions which aired in 60 countries. Movies. Ten months later he moved to a CBS radio-television affiliate in Dayton, Ohio. He lost his virginity, to a female, that is, when Judy Garland seduced him. And lots about Mervs prolonged sexual tryst with Marlon Brando. "Let's put a ribbon on this," he tells the long-winded. Griffin was a well-known TV personality who died on 12 August 2007 due to prostate cancer. Some guests receive a silent, comforting pat on the hand. 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! There was Peter Lawford, Robert Walker, Gordon Scott the then-Tarzan. So, is Phil Donahue Everyman? If you get anything else you think we can use, call me personally. I can now reveal that The Mogul is Merv Griffin. In 1963, NBC offered him the opportunity to host a new game show, Word for Word, which Griffin produced. . It gained traction in 1991 when he was targeted in a pair of lawsuits: by Dance Fever host Denny Terrio, alleging sexual harassment; and by assistant Brent Plott seeking $200 million in palimony. His voice becomes soft, "We have a lot to lose now. The show was a humongous success and became the longest running game show with over 6000 episodes. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and numerous Emmy Awards, out of which it won eleven. Six years later they had five children, two born in the same year. Merv Griffin reaches only 3.9 million viewers, Mike Douglas 3.7 and Dinah Shore 2.8 million. "Why rock the boat?" The Modern Family star was previously married to her high school love Joe Gonzalez . He retained the title of creator of both his game shows. The well-attended service included Nancy Reagan; Arnold Schwarzenegger, who gave the eulogy with Tony Griffin; Maria Shriver; and various actors, television stars, employees, and friends, including Pat Sajak, Vanna White, Alex Trebek, Dick Van Dyke, Jack Klugman, Dick Van Patten, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Ryan Seacrest, Johnny Mathis, Catherine Oxenberg and Casper Van Dien. Born In: San Mateo, California, United States, place of death: Los Angeles, California, United States, Founder/Co-Founder: Merv Griffin Enterprises, Merv Griffin Entertainment, education: University of San Francisco, University Of San Francisco, San Mateo Junior College, See the events in life of Merv Griffin in Chronological Order, (Host of 'The Merv Griffin Show' and Creator of the Games Shows 'Jeopardy!' The star said she liked her husband's children and it was a "treat" to be around them in 1977, Phil's daughter lived with his ex in Illinois. He was a famous but unsuccesssful single until 1977, when actress Marlo Thomas made her second appearance on his program. His mother, Rita Elizabeth Griffin, was a homemaker and father, Mervyn Edward Griffin; Sr. was an insurance broker. 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. [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. The show, originally titled What's the Question?, premiered on NBC on March 30, 1964, hosted by Art Fleming, and ran for 11 years. They had one child, Tony Griffin, born in 1959. ACTRESS, Marlo Thomas, has been married to former daytime talk show host, Phil Donahue, for over 40 years. Wednesday brought an obstetrician, and on Thursday he climbed into a coffin as he interviewed a mortician.