Merv Griffin Dies at the Age of 82, Rest in Peace

Merv Griffin had been battling prostate cancer since 1996 and had been reported yesterday as being gravely ill.

It is being reported that Merv Griffin has passed away at the age of 82. Merv Griffin, a class act, dead at the age of 82, rest in peace.

Talk show host, game show king and entertainment icon Merv Griffin has died of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his family. He was 82 years old. (CBS)

Merv Griffin was the creator of two of the greatest TV hit game shows ever, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. These two shows transcended game shows and became a part of American culture.

Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. was born in San Mateo, south of San Francisco on July 6, 1925, the son of a stockbroker. His aunt, Claudia Robinson, taught him to play piano at age 4, and soon the boy was staging shows on the back porch of the family home.

The Merv Griffin Show was a long-running American television talk show.

Entertainer, businessman Griffin dies

His “The Merv Griffin Show” lasted more than 20 years, and Griffin’s said his capacity to listen contributed to his success.

“If the host is sitting there thinking about his next joke, he isn’t listening,” Griffin reasoned in a recent interview.

But his biggest break financially came from inventing and producing “Jeopardy” in the 1960s and “Wheel of Fortune” in the 1970s. After they had become the hottest game shows on television, Griffin sold the rights to Coca Cola’s Columbia Pictures Television Unit for $250 million in 1986, retaining a share of the profits.