![]() In all, he hosted 5,500 shows and interviewed more than 25,000 guests during 23 years. “My satisfaction came from conversing with intelligent people who had something important to say,” Griffin said. presidents, Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell and John Lennon, in his only TV interview while still a Beatle. Griffin introduced to Americans such future stars as George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin, Jerry Seinfeld and Whitney Houston. It was syndicated by Group W in 1965 in a 90-minute format, giving him complete creative control over every aspect of the show. Other hits and a brief movie career followed, during which he caused a stir by sharing with Kathryn Grayson the first open-mouthed kiss in Hollywood history.īut Griffin became a household name as host of “The Merv Griffin Show,” created by NBC in 1962. Griffin first gained national fame singing a faux-Cockney version of “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts,” which topped hit parades around the country. She said Griffin “was there for me every day after Ronnie died” in 2004. “This is heartbreaking, not just for those of us who loved Merv personally, but for everyone around the world who has known Merv through his music, his television shows and his business,” Nancy Reagan said. Griffin also was a longtime friend of former President Reagan and his wife, Nancy. ![]() When Griffin entered a hospital a month ago, he was working on the first week of production of a new syndicated game show, “Merv Griffin’s Crosswords,” his son said. “He loved business and continued his many projects and holdings even while hospitalized.” “My father was a visionary,” Griffin’s son, Tony Griffin, said Sunday. contract actor, starred on Broadway, segued to TV host, created TV game shows, started a production company and eventually owned hotels, casinos, radio stations and more. Griffin’s influence resonates through myriad industries: He began his career in the 1940s as a singer, then became a Warner Bros.
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