Original "Hollywood Squares" Master Peter Marshall Has Died

[stevearino]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv...235975744/amp/

Peter Marshall, who for 15 years was best known as the original Master of the hit '60s TV Game Show "Hollywood Squares," has died today of Kidney Failure at age 98 at his Encino, California, home, according to fellow Game Show legend Wink Martindale's Facebook page.

Born on March 30, 1926 in Clarksburg, West Virginia, Ralph Pierre LaCock was the younger of 2 children (and only boy), including actress Joanne Dru, born to a pharmacist dad who died when Peter was 10 and Joanne was a teenager, after which Peter was raised by his Grandma in nearby Huntington, West Virginia.

With Tommy Noonan, after adopting the stage name Peter Marshall, he became known as half of the comedy duo Noonan and Marshall after moving to New York at age 14 to be with his mother and sister Joanne while Peter was an aspiring singer working as an usher at the Paramount Theater.

He eventually got a job working as an NBC network page while an aspiring actor and singer before turning 18, during which time he worked behind-the-scenes on the Ralph Edwards created Game Show "Truth or Consequences."

In 1966, after Tommy Noonan died of Brain Cancer, Peter Marshall beat out Dan Rowan (futurely of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In") to become the original Host of "Hollywood Squares," a new Daytime Network Game Show which aired on NBC from October 17, 1966 - June 20, 1980, after which it aired for another full year in Syndication until 1981 in addition to airing 8 months in prime-time on NBC in 1968; the show has seen countless incarnations, including a 3-year 1986-1989 Syndicated run hosted by John Davidson and produced by Orion Television (now owned by MGM Amazon Studios, which also owns the original series via Merrill Heatter & Bob Quigley Productions), a 1998-2004 run hosted by Tom Bergeron (produced by Sony Pictures Television and KingWorld Productions, Inc.) and an upcoming 2025 CBS Primetime Revival set to debut after the New Year 2025.

Among Peter's survivors include his son, Pierre LaCock, Jr., a Retired Pro Baseball Player, from his first marriage, and his wife of 35 years, Laurie.

03/30/1926 - 08/15/2024

[opus]

Classic Peter Marshall moment


https://youtu.be/-kjsOmwyCzA?si=OnAnacodyq9D8llX

[Caroline13]

he was 98 and Bored To Death....I can understand that.

[opus]

Originally Posted by Caroline13

Peter Marshall RIP, says he died of boredom
he was 98 and Bored To Death....I can understand that

So wait. After he died he said he died of boredom? That’s actually pretty impressive.

[DJM77]

Originally Posted by opus

So wait. After he died he said he died of boredom? That’s actually pretty impressive.

[Caroline13]

oh supposedly his liver went, a 98 yr old liver gave up....along the way he said he was bored, such a busy life and lived to 98..wow

Oh and he was not related to Penny Marshall.

[stevea]

RIP.

[AMackII]

With the recent passing of Peter Marshall, Wink Martindale is now the eldest living old school game show host as of this very moment

[icecream]

Originally Posted by opus

Classic Peter Marshall moment


https://youtu.be/-kjsOmwyCzA?si=OnAnacodyq9D8llX

Valerie should have sung more on One Day at a Time. Chop up Schneider's unfunny appearances that went on forever to make room for Barbara the singer.

[Edward216]

I always liked Peter Marshall, may he rest in peace. When I was a kid I thought he was really classy. LOL. He brought a certain dignity to Hollywood Squares.

Ed.

[howilu]

Though he was reluctant to take the job as host of Hollywood Squares, he took it to get back at Dan Rowan, who was also considered for the job. He made the right choice and his straight man approach was the key to the show's long run.

[KurtfromPitts]

Who knows how HS would have fared with Dan Rowan as MC.

[dee2364]

There's an interview Peter Marshall did on Gilbert Gottfried's podcast where he explains why he did HS. Years before, Dan Rowan had pissed him off by refusing to visit his comedy partner, Tommy Noonan, who was dying of cancer. He owed him a visit because IIRC, he had written the jokes that had launched the careers of Rowan and Martin. When Peter Marshall heard that Rowan was up for the HS gig, he took it. He's the second person I remember bashing Rowan. I think Pat Cooper might've been another comic who hated him.

[Dude111]

It is sad.......