Posted on 08/16/2024 4:54:31 PM PDT by Morgana
Host and actor Peter Marshall has died aged 98 from kidney failure.
The former Hollywood Squares host passed away Thursday at his home in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles, publicist Harlan Boll said.
He was the beloved game show host on more than 5,000 episodes of the iconic NBC show from 1966 to 1981.
'It was the easiest thing I've ever done in show business,' Marshall said in a 2010 interview for the Archive of American Television. 'I walked in, said `Hello stars,' I read questions and laughed. And it paid very well.'
Hollywood Squares would become an American cultural institution and make Marshall a household name.
It would win four Daytime Emmys for outstanding game show during his run and spawned dozens of international versions and several U.S. reboots.
The show attracted a range of top stars as occasional guests, including Aretha Franklin, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Ed Asner and Janet Leigh.
He was married three times, the last to Laurie Stewart in 1989. The couple survived a bout with COVID-19 early in 2021. He was hospitalized for several weeks.
His four kids include son Pete LaCock, a professional baseball player for the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals. Marshall is also survived by daughters Suzanne and Jaime, son David, 12 grandchildren, and nine great-great grandchildren.
He had toured with big bands starting as a teenager, had been a part of two comedy teams that appeared in nightclubs and on television, appeared in movies as a contract player for Twentieth Century Fox, and had sung in several Broadway musicals when the opportunity came up after Bert Parks, who hosted the pilot, bowed out.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Rip Peter Marshall
‘Hollywood Squares’ host and Broadway star Peter Marshall dies at 98
ABC News ^ | August 15, 2024 | Andrew Dalton
A long life
Me, too. I can see and hear Paul Lynde in the center square. I don’t think I ever saw an episode with Peter Marshall. In 1967, Paul Lynne debuted on the fledgling game show, where, as the permanent center square, he found an outlet to showcase his comedic talents for the next 15 years.
I did not know he died yesterday so I’m glad it got re-posted today.
So many fun moments on the Hollywood Squares. Very little today provides a similar type of escapism.
I wonder how much of the total episodes made still exist and survived the purges that the networks, particularly NBC, engaged in during the early to mid 1970s when a lot of game shows and soaps and other programming got chucked (unfortunately those persons had no idea that the nostalgia channels would be around within a little over a decade later).
Aw...I remember him...98 is a good run.
When you’re 98 it’s not kidney failure... It’s TRO... I.E.. Time Ran Out.
Speak for yourself. So what if it’s posted again...
I tried to get on that show....long time ago. I was up in the “squares”...They asked me a question and I gave them a no nonsense answer. They asked me why I was trying to get into medical school, I said, “because I want to be a doctor”...they chose a 1970’s like Miss America look alike with a smile as wide as the Mississippi, and a stalwart looking earnest farmer man from Oklahoma...the shows need something that they can talk to the contestants about ,that will hold the interest of the viewers for about one minute.
I realized that celebs probably have all the funny answers to all the questions so the celebs look spontaneous and funny. Each square has a small horizontal “desk”...cannot be seen by cameras...you can bet all the canned response are on that desk. FYI and IMHO.
Responsibility2nd
I did not know he died yesterday so I’m glad it got re-posted today.
Thanks
Real name was Ralph Pierre LaCock. Sister was actress Joann Dru. Son Is Pete LaCock, MLB player.
He survived COVID 19 at age about 96 or so. His son died of covid 19. RIP
Pierre La Cock? Noooooo
Peter Marshall was the host (quizmaster); Paul Lynde was the center square.
LOL...I forgot center square vs host. But I still can’t visualize Marshall but I sure can see Lynde.
Supposedly the best episodes of Hollywood Squares were the ones taped after lunch-when wine was served.
I didn’t see it yesterday.
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