Peter Marshall, Emmy-award winning game show host of “Hollywood Squares,” died of kidney failure Thursday in Encino. He was 98.
His wife Laurie said in a statement that he died at home.
Emmy-nominated 19 times, with five wins, he hosted more than 5,000 episodes of the original version of game show “The Hollywood Squares” and appeared in dozens of movies, stage musicals and TV shows.
Marshall was born Ralph Pierre LaCock in Huntington, W.V. He started his career as an NBC Radio page and usher at Paramount Theater. He served in the Army, working as a d.j. for Armed Forces Radio.
He was hired to host NBC’s long-running “The Hollywood Squares” starting in 1966, featuring regulars like Paul Lynde, Joan Rivers, Rose Marie
and hundreds of guest stars. The giant tic-tac-toe format gave a variety of stars a chance to roll out suggestive patter and joke answers known as
“zingers.”
Marshall went on to host “The Peter Marshall Variety Show,” “Big Bands From Disneyland,” the audience participation series “Fantasy” with Leslie Uggams and game shows “All-Star Blitz” and “Yahtzee.”
His TV guest appearances included “The Love Boat,” “Hotel,” “WKRP in Cincinnati,” “Love American Style,” “Lou Grant” and more.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety