European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 11, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Merv Griffin life a just one wheel of Fortune entertainer Griffin with a rubber mask of horror actor Beta Lugosi that sits on his office Sheet in Hollywood. By Alice Stein Bach Baltimore Sun i t in t quite the same As hearing Pavarotti sing at the met but still listening to Merv Griffin croon the National Anthem in a Small recording Booth at a local radio station in Baltimore is Well impressive. The Guy after All is singing this most difficult of songs without any warm up a he a just walked into the Booth cold after doing an hours Worth of bantering on the stations talk show a and not Only that but How he learns he has . A he was t prepared for that last bit of news. Quot what no music in a singing without background a a he says in mock horror to the Engineer who s recording Quot the Star spangled Banner Quot so that Merv Rio body Calls him Quot or. Griffin Quot can in sync it later at an orioles baseball game he a in Baltimore As part of a promotional tie in Between resorts International a his Atlantic City hotel a and the orioles radio broadcasts. But not to worry Mervos a pro. After checking whether its Quot perilous flight Quot or Quot perilous night Quot he performs it perfectly on the first take. One hitch though. It Wasny to being recorded. So he stands there and does it Over a confident relaxed 64-year-old Man a tanned with a while Shock of hair Sapphire Blue eyes a singing and gesturing As though he were performing on stage in front of a live audience. Perfect again. It has been 40 years since Merv Griffin recorded the multimillion Selling in be got a Lovely Bunch of coconuts with bandleader Freddy Martin a a hit record for which he received the magnificent sum of 50 Bucks a but make no mistake about it the one time crooner still has pipes that Are in Good working order. Of course. Merv does no to need to sing for his supper anymore. Over the years the pleasant easy going performer who hosted a successful talk show for almost 25 years was quietly buying up radio stations and California real estate. He was also Busy creating two of american tvs most popular game shows wheel of Fortune and jeopardy then in 1986, his personal Fortune took a quantum leap when he sold Merv Griffin enterprises which included the two game shows to coca cola for $250 million plus the following year Forbes Magazine listed him As the wealthiest entertainer in America the news that men Griffin was wealthier than 1 he likes of Bob Hope or Bill Cosby surprised a lot of people it also surprised Merv Griffin. Quot i was driving my car on Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills listening to the radio when i heard this announcement that Forbes Magazine had just named the richest performer Ever in show business Quot Merv recalls. Quot and then they said a Well be right Back after this and i thought a it s gotta be my buddy Clint Eastwood ,. Then i thought a its gotta be Steven Spielberg or George Lucas then they came Back and said a it s Merv Griffin and i went a and almost drove up the curb. Then i started looking at cars passing by wondering if everybody was looking at actually it was in March 1988 when everybody really started looking at Merv Griffin. That was when he took on the trumpeter himself waging a lengthy takeover bottle for resorts International with its flagship hotel and Casino in Atlantic City and four More hotels in the Bahamas Mervos aggressive corporate raid on Donald Trump shocked the Public Here was this mild mannered Clari it Kent like Guy emerging As a Superman Type corporate Raider the result of the takeover Battle was a split Between Griffin and Trump of the resorts International package. And although the final word on who won and who lost is still up for grabs in the business Community resorts International lost $303 million in 1989 and recently filed a chapter 11 reorganization plan the confrontation Between Public tycoon Trump and secret tycoon Griffin shocked even some of Mervos colleagues. Quot i really did t know he had built this Empire with the game shows Quot said his Friend Warren Cowan head of Rogers amp Cowan a Public relations firm. Quot i knew him As a Singer and the Best interviewer that talk shows have Ever so Merv is asked How did this overnight metamorphosis happen he laughs puffs on his Marlboro Light sips Coffee from a paper cup. Quot Well that a the Public s perception of me. But from the first moment i started to make any appreciable Money i was always investing. But quietly. Quot in those Days it Wasny to a Good idea for a performer to be known to have any appreciable assets. I remember in the Early Days walking Down the Street with Jackie Gleason and every truck Driver every taxi Driver everybody a would scream hey Jackie a then one Day it came out in the paper that Jackie signed a $12 million contract and from that moment on nobody Ever yelled hey Jackie anymore. The Public loses Contact with people of any kind of wealth. They just done to feel comfortable seeing you on television when you have that enormous but wealth has t changed Merv Griffin according to those who know him. His affability and Good humor is not a pose and he does not turn into Leona Helmsley with his employees when the Public spotlight is turned off. Quot he treats everyone the same Way Quot says wheel of Fortune producer Nancy Jones who has worked with Merv for 15 years. Quot it does no to matter if you re a Star or a Bellman in his hotel he treats you the same. He a a person who has not been affected by his Success and wealth he really has maintained a sense of reality,1 and a Good thing too. Because Merv a like anyone with wealth and Power a does t exactly travel the Way most of us travel a Silver Gray stretch Limo Waits outside to whisk Merv and his entourage of Young associates Back Froid the radio station to the stauffer hotel where Eva Gabor his longtime companion awaits. But he seems in no hurry he a just warming up to the interview right now for instance he a working in a few Choice thoughts about Donald Trump s Cash crunch. Actually he manages to work such thoughts in fairly regularly Quot he have fooled with me Quot he says at one Point while at the same time insisting that he and Trump Are Quot Friendly business still he says that the news of Trump s financial difficulties does not Surprise him. Quot it was no Surprise at All. If anybody had looked at How this great conglomerate was being put together it was All ,m. A other Peoples Money. And if that stack of cards starts to slip it All slips. So Here we Are now two years after resorts pauses and a cat that ate the Canary look lights up his face. Quot so now two years later i done to have a Cash crunch problem and everything seems to be collapsing around Merv gets up to pour himself another Coffee. Quot i just dropped 43 pounds a he announces proudly. Dressed in an expensive finely tailored suit he is in fact looking Good. But More than anything else Merv Griffin comes across As a Man who likes his life. Quot Merv is having fun Quot Cowan says. Quot he s enjoying his and How about that Energy even after a whirlwind schedule of flying in from los Angeles doing a talk show and promotions taping a television interview Merv is unflagging by energetic. Friends say it runs in his family. An avid Tennis player from a line of Tennis players a his father was Pacific coast Champion Merv says proudly and his Uncle was a Tennis pro a he and Eva Gabor Are Well known on the celebrity Tennis circuit. If s just one of the interests he shares with Gabor he says. Quot Eva and i have known one another for Over 20 years. More seriously though for the last six or seven years since her last husband left the scene of the crime. She a fabulous. There a a great and Loving soul there. And she is extremely Bright and extremely funny and we both love the same things. We go up to the ranch in Carmel Calif sometimes for two or three Days and put on the television and we sleep through eight movies. Then we sit up and have our meals and then we Fie Down again. We re like two people who really Are one Quot he says there was a difficult period in his life before Gabor he says when nothing but work had much meaning for him. Quot i would leave the studio after the curtain came Down go upstairs and change clothes then come downstairs and the studio was empty. And 1 would think a of. Good god is this what life is a and i think that a where Eva really came in and i Learned there was a life after he pauses. Quot in be never said that before Quot Page 16 the stars and stripes wednesday july 11, 1990
