Posted at 12:33 p.m., Sunday, August 12, 2007
Entertainer, game-show tycoon Merv Griffin dies at 82
Advertiser Staff
LOS ANGELES — Merv Griffin, the big band-era crooner turned impresario who parlayed his "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" game shows into a multimillion-dollar empire, died today. He was 82.Griffin died of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his family that was released by Marcia Newberger, spokeswoman for The Griffin Group/Merv Griffin Entertainment.
From his beginning as a $100-a-week San Francisco radio singer, Griffin moved on as vocalist for Freddy Martin's band, sometime film actor in films and TV game and talk show host, and made Forbes' list of richest Americans several times.
His "The Merv Griffin Show" lasted more than 20 years,
