Merv Griffin

Merv Griffin Net Worth

Merv Griffin Net Worth: Merv Griffin was an American television host, musician, actor and media mogul who had a net worth of $1 billion at the time of his death in 2007. Mervyn Edward "Merv" Griffin, Jr. was born July 6, 1925 in San Mateo, California. He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to appear in film and on Broadway. In the 1940s, he formed his own record label, Panda Records. His self-released album Songs by Merv Griffin was the first U.S. album to be mastered on magnetic tape. Griffin's fame soared when he struck gold in 1950 with I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts, which sold over three million copies. During one of his nightclub performances, Griffin was discovered by Doris Day, who arranged for a screen test at Warner Bros. Studios. He appeared in a number of hit movies before turning his focus to television. One of his films, So This Is Love (1953), featured the first open-mouthed kiss shown in theaters. Griffin began regularly appearing on television shows such as The Arthur Murray Dance Party and The Jack Paar Show. He hosted a game show, Play Your Hunch, from 1958 to 1962. Griffin became a substitute host for Jack Paar on The Jack Paar Tonight Show and scored some of the show's highest ratings. As a result, NBC gave him his own daytime talk show, which debuted on the same day Johnny Carson first hosted The Tonight Show on October 1, 1962. From 1965 to 1986 Griffin hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show, produced by Westinghouse Broadcasting (also known as Group W). He also created the game shows Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Click, Ruckus and Merv Griffin's Crosswords within his own television production companies, Merv Griffin Enterprises and Merv Griffin Entertainment. During his lifetime, Griffin was considered an entertainment business magnate. He even purchased the Beverly Hilton Hotel in the 1980s. In July 2007, he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a recurrence of the prostate cancer he had battled in 1996 was found during a routine examination. Merv Griffin, big band-era crooner, talk-show host and entertainment mogul, died of prostate cancer on August 12, 2007. He was 82.