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Thread: TV Legend Merv Griffin Dies At 82

  1. #1
    RitcheyRch
    RIP Merv.
    http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_224115836.html
    Talk show host, game show king and entertainment icon Merv Griffin has died of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his family. He was 82 years old.
    Griffin, who has had a home in La Quinta, Calif. for the past 20 years, was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in mid-July after a recurrence of the prostate cancer he battled in 1996.
    Griffin, who began his career as a $100-a-week radio singer in San Francisco, created the "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" game shows, soon moved on to become the featured vocalist in Freddy Martin's band.
    That led to a brief film career, in which he appeared opposite Doris Day and Kathryn Grayson, and later to a successful TV career as host of "The Merv Griffin Show," which aired for more than 20 years.
    His biggest financial break, however, came from inventing and producing "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune."
    After they became the hottest game shows in television, Griffin sold the rights to them to the Columbia Pictures Television Unit for $250 million, retaining a share of the profits. He started spreading the sale money around in treasury bonds, stocks and other investments.
    But he went into real estate and other ventures because "I was never so bored in my life," he said in a recent interview.
    "I said, `I'm not going to sit around and clip coupons for the rest of my life,' " he recalled in 1989. "That's when Barron
    Hilton said, `Merv, do you want to buy the Beverly Hilton?' I couldn't believe it."
    Griffin bought the slightly passe hotel for $100.2 million and completely refurbished it for $25 million. Then he made a move for control of Resorts International, which operated hotels and casinos from Atlantic City to the Caribbean.
    That touched off a feud with real estate tycoon Donald Trump. Griffin eventually acquired Resorts for $240 million, netting a
    reported paper profit of $100 million.
    "I love the gamesmanship," he told Life magazine in 1988. "This may sound strange, but it parallels the game shows I've been involved in."

  2. #2
    HocusPocus
    http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tm...08/0811_mg.jpg
    RIP
    i can remember watching his talk show back in the 70's.

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