...with Nancy Reagan
Posted on 08/10/2007 6:55:43 AM PDT by peggybac
Merv Griffin, the entertainment mogul, singer, talk-show host and horseman who has called La Quinta home for 20 years, is in grave condition with cancer.
“Entertainment Tonight” has reported that sources tell the Hollywood show that Griffin’s prognosis is not good. Griffin’s representatives have not returned calls to The Desert Sun to confirm or deny.
Griffin, 82, was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in mid-July after a recurrence of the prostate cancer he battled in 1996 was found during a routine examination.
The creator of “Jeopardy!” “Wheel of Fortune” and the host of the iconic “Merv Griffin Show” talk program has kept a 250-acre ranch in La Quinta since he visited the desert with Johnny Carson in 1986 to see Jimmy Connors play tennis.
An active desert resident, he has been a supporter of the La Quinta Arts Festival and the owner of the Merv Griffin Givenchy Resort & Spa in Palm Springs, now The Parker. Most recently, he has been the developer of an upscale equine community on a section of his ranch.
In 2005, his thoroughbred Steviewonderboy, won the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, racing's top award for a horse. The horse's Kentucky Derby campaign was derailed by injury, despite his win at the Breeder's Cup. Griffin, earlier this year, campaigned a horse called Cobalt Blue on the Derby trail.
In February, the La Quinta Arts Foundation held its Silver Anniversary Gala saluting Merv Griffin.
In an interview at the time, Griffin said about helping found the Arts Festival: “There was a whole group at that time, wonderful women, who said, ‘Come on, let’s really do it up big.” So I lent my name and brought out as many famous people as I could. It wasn’t pretentious at all. You wandered around and bought, and there were some amazing things.”
For the latest information on Griffin’s condition, check mydesert.com
Unfortunately, I think it is one of those very carefully chosen phrases used when there is little doubt as to the outcome.
Prayers for Merv's comfort and solace to his loved ones.
Prayers for Merv from some of our Seinfeld FRiends.
You’ll be in my thoughts and prayers, Merv. You’re a great entertainer and a great American.
Mark
The Merv Griffin Show, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune...he gave us clean, family-oriented television that has outlasted most of the dreck seen on the airwaves in the past 40+ years. He’s a throwback to the days of Lawrence Welk, Ed Sullivan, Red Skelton, and Carol Burnett. Give it the good fight, Merv.
He is one of the class acts in Hollywood....prayers for him
Prayers for Merv...
The Wheel of Fortune just came up “Lose a Turn.”
Prayers up.
Sad to hear. He is a great supporter of Tb horse racing. Steviewonderboy isn’t the first Tb he has owned and raced. The article does contain one inaccuracy: Steviewonderboy did not win 2005 Horse of the Year. He was 2 yr old of the year in 2005. The Horse of the Year winner in 2005 was Saint Liam.
Wasn’t “Let’s Make a Deal” his creation too?
Brilliant guy - I tape “Jeopardy” every night.
Sad for Nancy—to lose another old friend.
I always think of that when Merv is mentioned too. Merv's had a lot of financial success in his life, but he's done it quietly and he is so much more likeable than Trump.
************
Yes. It's not easy growing old.
Damn.
He reminds me of the days when there were real gentlemen in Hollywood.
God Bless, Merv..
WOW!!
I never knew all this about him!!
What a great guy!!
Prayers up for Merv!!
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