Posted on 08/12/2007 4:19:39 PM PDT by kellynla
"Hiya, Pat...it’s Merv Griffin.”
“G’bye, Pat...give my love to Lesly and the kids.”
Those were the first and last words uttered to me by Merv Griffin, and there were 26 years of joy in between.
Our first conversation occurred on the phone from my office at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles in November, 1981. It was, indeed, one of my early heroes, Merv Griffin, calling, and he wanted to know whether I was interested in taking over the hosting duties on a daytime game show he was producing for NBC called Wheel of Fortune.
The final words came in a quiet hospital room at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills just a couple of weeks ago.
As I was driving home from that last visit, I couldn’t help but think of our first in-person conversation when I expressed my reservations about doing Wheel. I told him I wasn’t sure I was cut out for game shows, and that I might be too low-key for the genre. “You just be yourself,” he said. “That’s why I want you. Do it the way you want to do it. You’ll be great.” Well, I don’t know that I’ve been great, but I do know he never once tried to change anything about me or the way I did the show. He rarely came to the set, and when he did, he was always full of compliments. He’d make reference to some comment I made on a particular show, and he’d convince me it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.
When Merv sold Wheel (and Jeopardy!) in 1986, he became my ex-boss, and that’s when the fun really began. He was a dear friend to me and my family, and there was no better friend to have. First of all, Merv knew everyone. When you were with him, you rubbed shoulders with the most exciting and famous people on the planet. We vacationed together in some of the most glamorous spots in the world, and we stayed up very late laughing as long and hard as I’ve ever laughed in my life. No one ever told a story better, and no one ever had better stories to tell. And he was a great audience. That much-imitated laugh of his was completely genuine, and it breaks my heart that I will never hear it from him again.
Merv, of course, will live on through video tapes and through all the projects he created and the careers he furthered. There will be tributes to his show business savvy and stories of his warmth and generosity. But none of that will really be able to capture the bigger-than-life person that was Merv. The solar system of which he was the center was filled with bright stars who seemed to gravitate toward him. Whether on a TV show or in a living room, no one could make you feel more alive than Merv Griffin. His life was a celebration, and those of us who participated in it can’t help but feel blessed.
Merv would be very upset that his friends should be as sad as they are. He didn’t believe in sadness. He was upbeat, forward-looking and optimistic to the end. There will come a time, I suppose, when the sadness will give way to the wonderful memories, but I have trouble imagining that time right now. The man who changed my life, and then became such an important part of it, is gone.
I do know this: the conversation in heaven has gotten a lot more lively.
wow.
Very touching words from Pat.
“Merv would be very upset that his friends should be as sad as they are. He didn’t believe in sadness. He was upbeat, forward-looking and optimistic to the end”
Merv and Ronald Reagan shared the character trait of eternal optimism. A nice tribute from a good man(Sajak)
about another good man(Merv Griffin)
RIP Merv!
A great eulogy from Pat Sajak.
Two classy gentlemen in an industry and in a city not known for class. So long Merv. We'll see you later.
Merv Griffin’s tv portfolio is amazing. God Bless his soul. Pat Sajek has always seemed a true, down to earth guy.
Great post BUMP! Prayers for family and friends of Mr. Griffin.
Merv Griffen and Pat Sajak are two real down-to-earth men. Both shared a love of country, laughter, and life, and both have more class in their pinky than all of Hollywood. Kindness begats kindness and Merv Griffin was a kind man. May God hold him close and may his family find peace in their memories of Merv Griffen.
I first saw Merv Griffin on his game show Play Your Hunch when I was a little kid. He was a true Renaissance man. Rest in peace Merv.
Great tribute!
A group from my junior high school in about 1967 took a field trip that included a taping of the Merv Griffin Show. My clearest memory from that show was watching a cameraman almost fall off his perch in laughter at some of the antics.
I used to watch the Merv Griffin Show with Arthur Treacher (”And heeere’s ....Merrrrrrrrrvinnnn....”) with my Mom when I was a little kid, along with Mike Douglas and Art Linkletter. Class acts they were, and Mom didn’t have to worry about me seeing something I shouldn’t see.
Merv was one of the greats; he will be sorely missed. So many are gone now....
Just a minor family anecdote concerning the late Merv Griffin. He was originally a singer, singing at one time with the Freddy Martin orchestra. One of his fairly successful songs was a song written by my late father,
“Take Her to Jamaica”
My aunt, a singer from YOUR HIT PARADE radio shows, JOAN EDWARDS once said to Merv, as reported in the AP obituary,
“Your voice is terrific, but the blubber has got to go.”
Griffin slimmed down, and he would spend the rest of his life adding and taking off weight.
RIP, Mervyn!
Lump in my throat
Little known fact: Pat Sajak is a Vietnam veteran who served in 1968-1970 - just another one of those bearded homeless loons the MSM tries to foist on us like Fred Smith (founder of FedEx), Craig Vettner (discoverer of human genome), etc. etc. A nice tribute to Merv from a classy guy.
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