Table of contents:
Video: How "Field of Miracles" conquered the whole world: "Nostradamus of show business" Merv Griffin
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
He was called the Nostradamus of show business for his ability to accurately guess which project will be popular and bring its creators a good income. It is hard to imagine that once the media mogul and famous TV presenter was a simple, albeit promising, singer. Almost 13 years have passed since the day of his departure, and the whole world continues to play at his "Wheel of Fortune", the very one that is called "Field of Miracles" in Russia.
From success to glory
He was born in San Mateo, California on July 6, 1925, the son of a stockbroker Mervyn Griffin and his wife, Rita Elizabeth, a housewife. The chubby boy often suffered from the ridicule of his peers, but he very quickly figured out how to become everyone's favorite. Merv Griffin began to laugh at himself, and thanks to his sense of humor and the ability to always amuse those around him, very soon he acquired a lot of friends and even his first fans. Since childhood, he sang in the choir of the Roman Catholic Church, and as a first fee he was allowed to play the church organ.
At the age of 19, Griffin began his career as a radio singer, taking part in the San Francisco national Sketchbook program. The completeness, however, made Merv feel ashamed of himself, and many fans of his radio appearances were extremely disappointed with his appearance. Then the singer resolutely took up himself and was able to lose weight by 36 kg in four months.
Later, Griffin toured with the Freddie Martin Orchestra and worked as a radio commentator, in 1945 he opened his own recording studio and released his album, which became the first American compilation released on magnetic tape. The popularity of Merv Griffin grew, and after the release of the song "I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" it skyrocketed, making the performer a real star.
Singer Doris Day, after one of Griffin's performances, invited him to take part in a screen test for a role in the film "By the Light of the Silver Moon". His candidacy was not approved, but later he starred in several musical films, and after moving to New York in 1954 he became the host of the music show "Finian's Rainbow" on one of the TV channels.
Further, his career on television developed rapidly. One of the most popular programs of Merv Griffin was The Merv Griffin Show, during which the presenter met with famous people and conducted very unexpected interviews with them, while communicating with the audience in the studio. The show has been on television for over 20 years.
Entertainment TV author
But Merv Griffin never rested on the laurels of his own success. All his life he was fond of puzzles and solving crossword puzzles, and already in the early 1960s he came up with the idea of creating an intellectual television show. In 1964, "Own Game" (original name "Jeopardy!") Was released, which was a truly resounding success.
On the eve of the broadcast, Griffin admitted that the idea belonged to his wife Julanne Wright. They flew to New York from Duluth when the showman was contemplating creating a game show. Then Griffin's wife noticed: there was no successful question-and-answer program on the screens yet. She also suggested making a flip-flop game and giving the participant not a question to be answered, but suggesting answers to come up with a question.
During the broadcast, almost the whole country gathered at the screens. The viewers on the other side of the screen empathized with the characters, answered the quiz questions with them, rejoiced at their own correct decisions. And they certainly sought to be among the participants in the show. "Jeopardy!" went on the air for 11 years, and then was closed by the decision of the NBC channel, which bought the rights to it.
When Jeopardy! ratings began to fall, Merv Griffin thought about creating a new game show, and on January 6, 1975, the successor to "Own Game" - "Wheel of Fortune" was released. Participants solved the words, as in the "Hangman", a children's word game, while winning valuable prizes, which were determined by the rotation of a huge fairground wheel.
The Wheel of Fortune turned out to be Merv Griffin's most successful creation. Having begun its triumphant march back in 1975, this program is still under different names in many countries of the world. In Russia, as you know, since 1991, the Field of Miracles has enjoyed constant success.
In 1990, Griffin tried to launch a television analogue of the popular board game Monopoly, but his project failed. The author himself retired in 1986 and sold his own production company Merv Griffin Enterprises for $ 250 million. Following a deal with Columbia Pictures Television, Forbes named Griffin the richest performer in history.
After the sale of the company, Merv Griffin took up real estate investments, but continued to come up with questions for his shows and did not abandon the idea of creating something new. Until the last day of his life in 2007, he invariably came up with something. His new show "Merv Griffin'S Crosswords" first premiered on September 10, 2007, when its creator had already left this world after a relapse of cancer. The great showman passed away on August 12, 2007.
At the domestic presenter of children's game programs and one of the creators of the reality show "The Last Hero" Sergei Suponev there was every chance to become an equally successful and famous showman. But he lived fast and loved adrenaline. Due to his penchant for extreme entertainment, the TV presenter was more than once in the balance of death, and once she still overtook him …
Recommended:
Where did the red-haired boy from "Yeralash" disappear, who conquered the whole country in the 1990s: Alexander Loye
On July 26, actor Alexander Loye turns 38 years old. He became a star back in his school years and was remembered by most viewers as the charismatic red-haired boy from Yeralash, the bully Vova Sidorov from a commercial from the 1990s. and the protagonist of the series "Next". At first, his acting career developed very rapidly and successfully, but then long pauses began in it. Where did the brightest and most charming boy of the 1990s disappear, what is he doing now and why, despite his loud popularity, t
Secrets of the television series about the English aristocrats, thanks to which he conquered the whole world: "Downton Abbey"
The British have long and, apparently, forever earned a reputation as snobs, and they themselves, perhaps, will not agree to part with such a national peculiarity. Maybe this is the secret of the popularity of the six seasons of the series "Downton Abbey" - the aristocrats of foggy Albion appear before the viewer in a rather predictable role, while their reactions to certain events become unexpected - not something you expect from true snobs. To the world, Downton Abbey is the best version of England
How 8 Russian star twins and twins conquered show business
Twins and twins are called a gift of fate, happiness in the square. And if both brothers or sisters are also gifted with talent, then hold on! They will turn the world upside down. Today in our article we will tell you what the Russian stellar twins are currently doing
Plumbing, Civil Rights and Technology: What the World Lost When the Greeks Conquered Troy and the Aryans Conquered the Dravids
The legends of the dark times in Europe and Asia are full of admiration for lost civilizations, developed so highly that listeners of these legends could hardly believe. Much later, with scientific progress, Europeans began to treat these legends with increasing skepticism: it is clear that the world is developing from simple technologies to complex ones, where can complex technologies come from to simple ones? With the development of archeology, mankind again had to believe in lost civilizations. At least compared to the narrator
10 Scandinavian TV series that conquered not only Europe, but the whole world
Information technology has opened up almost unlimited possibilities for movie fans, and movie fans can get acquainted, without leaving their homes, with the cinema of almost any country. No one disputes that American and British television projects captivate with their spectacle and unpredictability. But the works of Scandinavian masters became a real discovery for the multi-million Russian TV audience. They give amazing multi-part projects that immerse us all in an extraordinary