TV Titan Merv Griffin Dies of Prostate Cancer at 82
Pioneering talk how host and game show innovator Merv Griffin died over the weekend at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The cause was prostate cancer. First treated for the disease in 1996, Griffin was recently hospitalized again, and doctors said the cancer had spread to other organs.
The Merv Griffin Show was among the first to touch on "edgy" topics and became a blueprint for similar shows. It also served as the anchor for a highly successful entertainment empire which grew to include game shows Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune before expanding into hotels and casino.
The New York Times is one of the few papers to touch on his rumored homosexuality: "But he was also dogged by sex scandals and insinuations that he was gay. In 1991, he was sued by Denny Terrio, the host of 'Dance Fever,' another show Mr. Griffin created, alleging sexual harassment. The same year, Brent Plott, a longtime employee who worked as a bodyguard, horse trainer and driver, filed a $200 million palimony lawsuit."
Said Plott at the time: "We lived together, shared the same bed, same house. He told me he loved me."
The Times notes: "Mr. Griffin characterized both lawsuits as extortion; ultimately, both suits were dismissed. Mr. Griffin consistently evaded answering questions about his sexuality. In a 2005 interview with The New York Times, he said: 'I tell everybody that I’m a quartre-sexual. I will do anything with anybody for a quarter.'"
Michelangelo Signorile has much more at The Gist about Griffin's closet, Griffin's friendship with the Reagans and his complicity in their silence during the first years of the AIDS crisis, the sexual harassment lawsuits, launched against him, and the threats he felt from those around him who were openly gay.
Signorile notes: "Merv Griffin accomplished a lot and is, in his death, being held up as a example of a stellar Hollywood businessman. But he should also be held up as man who, like Malcolm Forbes before him, was hugely influential and powerful and yet still allowed the closet and homophobia to manipulate his life, and to cause him to do harm to his own people. That should not be forgotten."
Posted Aug. 13,2007 at 8:11 AM EST by Andy Towle in Deaths, Denny Terrio, Merv Griffin, News, Television | Permalink
I guess nobody here who's judging Merv has heard of Childhelp's Merv Griffin Village, a haven for abused children where they get intensive, round-the-clock treatment for trauma associated with abuse, neglect, sexual molestation and abandonment.
Posted by: stosine | Aug 13, 2007 4:52:58 PM
There is the distinct possibility, however unlikely, that MG gave money anonymously to gay causes over the years, or in other ways supported the community quietly. In any event, now that libel statutes no longer apply, a full biography can be published.
He looks old, but Sir Ian is definitely a generation younger than Merv, and he's British and from the stage for the most part.
Malcolm Forbes was probably bisexual (just look at his Faberge loving sons). Roy Cohn was almost certainly mentally ill. I don't know of any connection between these men though. I think you'll find a lot of very politically active people have anti-social tendencies or abnormal psychologies. That would apply to people like Cohn, whereas Forbes and Griffin were cronies looking for politicos to gain business opportunities. They were probably non-political otherwise.
Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Aug 13, 2007 5:08:51 PM
Stosine...fantastic that he helped children who have been abused (and for the record, I never accused him of never helping anyone...just never helping any GLBT people)...but FUCK HIM for sucking up to Reagan and Bush who have done nothing good for the GLBT population and have, in many way, harmed us.
Posted by: peterparker | Aug 13, 2007 5:09:49 PM
OK Stosine, now I've heard of that, and now I'm supposed to believe his sexual harassment and firing openly-gay employees, and friendship with AIDS-ignoring Ronnie Raygun is irrelevant? Very easy to say as long as you weren't one of the gay men he employed who were harassed or fired. How dare he fire anyone for being gay, usually because they wouldn't put-out for him too. Perv Griffin would be a better name for that old letch.
Posted by: Johnny | Aug 13, 2007 5:20:09 PM
my mental image of merv was always of him sitting on a huge pillow in a flowing caftan with a gaudy ring on every chubby little finger and surrounded by phillipino houseboys in speedos ... or maybe i'm just projecting... haha
Posted by: el polacko | Aug 13, 2007 6:02:32 PM
Seriously, this guy amassed an enormous fortune, hung out with the hollywood elite, including a former president and a first lady, created some of the most memorable tv content in history, all the while, having hot sex with hot guys (escorts or not, hot dick is hot dick) and still lived to a ripe old age and will now be remembered as a hero and tv icon with only an occasion sex scandal which barely got reported in the mainstream media (and hardly tarnished his rep). If this doesn't prove that karma does not exist, then I don't know what does...
Posted by: Seriously Folks | Aug 13, 2007 6:32:45 PM
I really don't give a shit about Merv, and I despise Bush & Co., but I am older than many of you here. I remember seeing Merv's day-time show on b&w TV.
Seems like you guys are so out and self-realized: "It's a shame he was such a closet case." What the fuck else would he be living thru the 1940's, 50's, 60's? "Shameful." Of course, people can just change and come out later in life. Peterparker and Johnny - document your accusations - especially the Bush parts.
I'm disgusted by the inane comments here.
Posted by: dave | Aug 14, 2007 1:25:13 AM
I really don't give a shit about Merv, and I despise Bush & Co., but I am older than many of you here. I remember seeing Merv's day-time show on b&w TV.
Seems like you guys are so out and self-realized: "It's a shame he was such a closet case." What the fuck else would he be living thru the 1940's, 50's, 60's? "Shameful." Of course, people can just change and come out later in life. Peterparker and Johnny - document your accusations - especially the Bush parts.
I'm disgusted by the inane comments here.
Posted by: dave | Aug 14, 2007 1:26:14 AM
Leland - your post about jelly bellys was a bit too stream of consciousness for me to decode. But I think I agree with you?
Posted by: dave | Aug 14, 2007 1:39:58 AM
Leland - your post about jelly bellys was a bit too stream of consciousness for me to decode. But I think I agree with you?
Posted by: dave | Aug 14, 2007 1:40:26 AM
Leland - your post about jelly bellys was a bit too stream of consciousness for me to decode. But I think I agree with you?
Posted by: dave | Aug 14, 2007 1:40:33 AM
Read the linked articles, idiot.
Posted by: Johnny | Aug 14, 2007 1:40:44 AM
I read the articles, idiot. Believe everything you read?
Posted by: dave | Aug 14, 2007 2:44:13 AM
I read the articles, idiot. Believe everything you read?
Posted by: dave | Aug 14, 2007 2:44:44 AM
Dave,
Below, you'll find a link to an interview with Merv Griffin that I read in Rolling Stone (I initially referenced Vanity Fair, but the magazine was actually Rolling Stone) in which the author quotes Merv Griffin's comments relating his love for Ronald Reagan, George W Bush and all things Bush Administration: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432607dear_mister_fantasy
Have fun reading, Dave.
xo,
peterparker
Posted by: peterparker | Aug 14, 2007 4:12:17 AM
Peterparker - thanks, I will read it. I went a bit drama queen at the end of my post - for which I apologize, but basically I'm saying that the man was a product of his era. Also, we're not talking about a political scientist here. A friend of the Reagans makes sense - so was Rock Hudson. Didn't know he was a George W supporter.
Posted by: dave | Aug 14, 2007 11:47:35 AM
A bit defensive, are we Mr. Shales??
So, what are you doing here at a gay website?
Posted by: midak | Aug 14, 2007 1:24:23 PM
Dave,
According to the Rolling Stone interview, Merv is a HUGE fan of W.
I might also point out that, while Rock Hudson was indeed a friend of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, he did not have the opportunity to live through the darkest days of the pandemic and decide whether or not to remain friends with Ron and Nancy after their gross neglect of HIV/AIDS.
As for Griffin being a 'product of his era', plenty of people of his era found the guts to come out of the closet...and many of them did it without the trappings of power that Merv Griffin enjoyed. I have no remorse for the man.
xo,
peterparker
Posted by: peterparker | Aug 14, 2007 2:01:19 PM
Merv was a great man, whom loved my warm sheet upon my mattress. He was straight in contrast to all these rumors and falsified statements from those whom like to whisper them to others ears. He was true to his love of the tightness of my loins and he never rested asleep without small words of warmth and love... may all see that his manhood was loved and given me a woman...
Posted by: Lobee1 | Sep 20, 2007 7:30:37 AM