Obit: Merv Griffin (12 August 2007)

Subject: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: Mickey191
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 12:06 PM

Merv Griffin passed today. Age 82 - Prostate Cancer.

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 12:16 PM

Merv introduced me to Richard Pryor when I was a TV-absorbing tot and Pryor was a nobody. Thanks, Merv!

~S~

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: John Hardly
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 12:27 PM

As a Jeopardy! fanatic, I'll always be grateful to the guy.

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 12:48 PM

Well that's a shock! He has been quiet the last few years, but the guy was a dynamo. Who knew he'd go on to all of the things he did after the simple talkshow of his?

RIP, Merv. You had a good life!

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: Cluin
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 01:46 PM

RIP, Merv.

And now, as a salute, 1. 2, 3, everybody:


Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 02:05 PM

First of all, he was a singer. He had two top 40 hits in 1951.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: Mickey191
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 02:26 PM

HE was a gentleman with great humor & knew how to draw out his interesting guests. His company produced Jeopardy - but the idea to supply the answers was his wife, JuleAnn's, brainstorm.

RIP

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: Genie
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 04:13 PM

Anyone who has a griffin as their logo is OK in my book!

That he produced Jeopardy earns him a bit more kudos.

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: gnu
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 05:42 PM

I loved his "talk" show. The man could sing and was a great interviewer. Comical too. He even had guests like Frank Zappa on long before their time.

RIP.

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: Greg B
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 07:06 PM

I always though he was a hoot with the Gabor sisters.

And he sure could play the "Moonlight Sonata"

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: pattyClink
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 07:25 PM

Admirable guy, according his friends.

on Merv

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 09:10 PM

A story I heard on NPR this afternoon...

As Jerry pointed out above, Merv Griffin was also a singer and piano player. He not only wrote the theme music for "Jeopardy", but wisely kept the rights to the music in his own name instead of that of his production company. So, when Columbia Studios bought Merv Griffin Productions in 1986, they got "Jeopardy" but they didn't get its theme music. They had to pay Griffin personally for the right to use the theme, a deal which amounted to about eight million dollars in royalties for him over the years.

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin (12 August 2007)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 10:45 PM

I've crosslinked to "Lovely Bunch of Coconuts," and Bee-dubya-ell mentions the theme music for Jeopardy." What other hits did he have? Jerry, with your encyclopedic knowledge of music, you should be able to answer that.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin (12 August 2007)
From: pdq
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 11:22 PM

I'm pretty sure I have a 78 of Freddy Martin with "Mervin Griffin, vocal" somewhere (probably in storage). The side I remember is about a guy sitting in a chair, smoking a cigarette. He sees his girlfriend's face in the smoke rings. 'Course, maybe I was smoking something and just thought...

Merv Griffin was an under-rated piano player but an over-rated singer. Mike Douglas (aka Michael Delaney Dowd) was a much better singer and talk show host. Still, Griffin was much better than any variety show host we have today.

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin (12 August 2007)
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Aug 07 - 08:44 AM

Hey, Joe:

As someone else mentioned, he did have a big hit as the vocalist for Freddy Martin, singing I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts. His two top 40 hits on his own were The Morning Side Of The Mountain, which reached #27 in August of 1951, quickly followed by Twenty Three Starlets And Me which reached #30 in November of the same year. I don't remember either of them. He probably had other releases that didn't hit the top 40. I don't remember them either.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin (12 August 2007)
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 13 Aug 07 - 09:04 AM

It amazing that someone who is/was a household name in the US is virtually totally unknown in the UK.

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin (12 August 2007)
From: Mickey191
Date: 13 Aug 07 - 09:39 AM

pdq,
I would disagree with your feelings that Douglas was a better talk show host. Mike was "nice" but was not as good an interviewer. Merv's delving intuition made for much more interesting & humorous talks. He could sense when there was a good story afoot.

He made one movie & in it sang to the lovely Kathryn Grayson. Can't recall the name.

Arthur Treacher was a delight as his sidekick. His "My Dear Boy" admonishhments would put Merv in his place when he got "fresh." Merv loved it.

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin (12 August 2007)
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 13 Aug 07 - 09:51 AM

Cluin - sorry nobody took you up on your invite to start madly typing out the words to Lovely Bunch of coconuts. i got what you wanted!

Subject: RE: Obit: Merv Griffin (12 August 2007)
From: oldhippie
Date: 14 Aug 07 - 07:25 AM

I liked the 45 Merv recorded in the late 50s, "Banned In Boston", cute song.