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R.I.P. Peter Marshall, original host of ''The Hollywood Squares''
He almost turned down the job that earned him four Daytime Emmys. The entertainer and host was 98 years old.
Peter Marshall, known for his role as host of the 1966 game show The Hollywood Squares,has passed away.
Born Ralph Pierre LaCock on March 30, 1926, Marshall knew from a young age that he wanted to be in show business. By 14 he was working as an usher in the famous Paramount Theater, and by 15 he was earning $50 a week singing with the Bob Chester Band.
He was drafted into the U.S. Army after graduating high school, where he was recruited as a disc jockey at a radio station in Naples, Italy. After serving, he met Tommy Noonan, and the two formed a comedy duo known as Noonan & Marshall. Together, the duo performed in night clubs, appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, and even landed a few roles in movies as a comedy team.
In 1961, Marshall replaced Dick Van Dyke as the lead of the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie during its West End run in London.
In 1966, he landed the gig that would be his most memorable, and he almost turned it down. Morey Amsterdam recommended Marshall as the host of The Hollywood Squares, replacing Bert Parks from the game show's pilot. Marshall initially was not interested, but upon hearing that the other entertainer up for the job was Dan Rowan, of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and who Marshall held a personal grudge against, he took the position to make sure that Rowan wouldn't get it. (Marshall resented that Rowan had not visited Tommy Noonan during his fight with terminal brain cancer, after Noonan & Marshall had written for Rowan & Martin.)
Hollywood Squares featured celebrities sitting in nine boxes, who would offer responses to questions posed by the host and judged by the contestants. Certain celebrities became known as regulars on the show, like Paul Lynde, Cliff Arquette, Rich Little, Wally Cox, Roddy McDowall, Rose Marie, Demond Wilson, and many more. Paul Lynde earned three Daytime Emmy nominations for his zingers.
Marshall himself took home four Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show Host, and in 2007 was one of the first inductees in the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame.
Marshall hosted Hollywood Squares from 1966 to 1981 and said that it was "the easiest job I ever had."
Though he is best known for Hollywood Squares, Marshall turned up in TV and movies outside of the game show, including guest roles on WKRP in Cincinnati, The Love Boat, The Lucy Show, and Fantasy Island. In 1982 he had a role in the musical movie Annie starring Albert Finney and Carol Burnett. Marshall played a radio host who helps broadcast Annie's search for her long-lost parents.
The host and entertainer was 98 years old.
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61 Comments
And in 1968 Marshall made a vocal album for Dot Records called "For the Love of Pete." One of the tracks, "Silly Song," was the "Hollywood Squares" theme with lyrics. An interesting but good album for anyone who didn't know Marshall was a singer as well as a game show host. (Sad to say, UMG Recordings, whose Geffen Records label currently holds the rights to "For the Love of Pete," suffered a warehouse fire that destroyed all the company's master tapes about a decade ago, and therefore the master of Marshall's album is now lost. If UMG licensed anybody to rerelease Marshall's album on CD, it would most likely be sourced from a "needle drop.")
In any event, yet another great talent has left us. RIP, Peter Marshall. You will be missed.
RIP Mr. Peter Marshall 🙏🏼
One of the funniest was when Peter asked Charlie Weaver (Cliff Arquette) this question. He said " Chuck, true or false, when you die you see your whole life flash before your eyes." And Charlie answered " That's true, but when I die I want to see Ann Margaret's life flash before my eyes."
Classic.
Paul: Alice...and her mother's sick about it.
🙏🙏
