Entertainment, Game Show Legend Merv Griffin Passes Away

LOS ANGELES, August 13: Merv Griffin, the legendary
entertainer who created the hit game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, passed away on Sunday at the age of 82 from
prostate cancer.

Griffin got his start as a radio singer and then began
touring with the Freddy Martin band before appearing in several Hollywood
movies in the 1950s. A regular on the talk show circuit in the 50s and early
60s, Griffin was soon given his own series, The Merv Griffin Show, which remained on the air for two decades. He
created Jeopardy! in 1964 and
then Wheel of Fortune in 1975, as
well as a number of other titles. In 1986, he sold the rights to those hit game
shows and others to Columbia Pictures Television for $250 million in a deal
that allowed him to retain a share of the profits.

Griffin’s latest game show creation is Merv Griffin’s
Crosswords, a production with William
Morris and Program Partners, which launches in the U.S. syndication market this
fall.