Merv, an Autobiography

by Merv Griffin, Peter Barsocchini

The popular television personality combines a candid account of his private life with a reminiscence of his career--from radio singer to talk-show host--and stories about celebrities he has known and interviewed

Genres: Biography

289 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Christopher Lewis Kozoriz · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Kemmons Wilson, the founder of the Holiday Inn chain, was once a guest on my show and he said something that I later had transcribed because I thought it was worth remembering: 'Success is not money. Success is being happy with what you're doing. I think you're extremely successful if you're happy doing what you want to do. Everybody thinks that when you get successful, and the money that comes with it, you have the 'end answer.' You don't. Money is the most unimportant thing in the world. You've got to live the way you want to live. For some people that's $25,000 a year, for some it's $50,000 a year. But anything above that is just a way of keeping score.'" (Merv Griffin, Merv: Making the Good Life Last, Page 193)

Have you ever heard of Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune? Then you may be interested in reading this book because the Author is the creator of these game shows. In fact, the majority of his wealth came by selling his production company that produced these shows. In the later part of his life he sold this company to Coca-Cola for more than $250 million. He says, "I've always seemed to reinvent myself every couple of years. I surprised a lot of people when I sold Wheel and Jeopardy, even though it was for a big amount of money and it was the right decision financially. I surprised people when I sold Resorts, because I was so involved in all the aspects of marketing it. If someone knocked on my door tomorrow and offered me a trophy price for the Beverly Hilton, I'd think about it seriously. As much as I love that hotel, I'm not attached to it. I'm attached to people, not things."

As you can see from this quote above, he got into hotels later, and even writes a whole chapter about a real estate deal with Donald Trump. I remember Donald Trump also mentioning details of this deal in his book The Art of the Comeback when I read it.

In his early years before his success with his production company, he started in show business doing singing acts. One of his most famous songs in his heyday was I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts . He then did acting in some movies and shows, then he was hired to what is probably his most famous show that bears his name: The Merv Griffin Show. One of the most memorable stories I found was when he introduced Witney Houston to the world for the first time. She was 19 at the time and had the voice of an angel. It's a shame she was destroyed by living a worldly life. I found it ironic that she was introduced to the world by Merv Griffin, and then she ended up overdosing at his hotel, The Beverly Hilton, and then dying.

Many great stories in this book; however, I found Merv a little bit of a confused soul. He is a bit of a Hollywood Elite, and I did not like that he was recommending and promoting psychics and transcendental meditation by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. But I do believe he was quite honest in his recollections, so 4 stars on this one. His tombstone reads: I will not be right back after this message.

[Rodolphus · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a autobiography, it does what's intended, describing the subject's life from his perspective, starting out as a DJ and then becoming a singer and eventual talk show host. It also, for those familiar with personality types, really shows off his attitude, with him never taking responsibility for when his attempts at 'jokes' angered people. Every time such an incident occurs in the narrative, he made sure to go 'Well gee. Couldn't be my fault that they didn't laugh at my perceived making fun of them, as with Al Pacino getting hostile when he was asked about how he got from the Bronx to Broadway, which could easily be interpreted as 'How'd you get to such an elite place, after growing up in a poorer borough?' There is also him speaking of being glad to get let go from his talk show,

"With all of that, I might have still continued to do my show were it not for one crucial factor that tipped the scales. As Jack Paar memorably observed when he quit The Tonight Show, "There's nobody left to talk to." I was finally bored with asking soap opera stars questions, when I really didn't care about their answers. They'd offer their heartfelt opinion on foreign policy and I'd be thinking 'Oh, please. You're on Days of Our Lives'" as though the casts of such shows were somehow less merely because they weren't 'Hollywood' actors. Anyway, in closing it does show his elitism, textual self-gratification, and overall insufferable nature and belief that it was everyone else who was in the wrong whenever arguments occurred.

[Don Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3 1/2). Having wintered in La Quinta, California, Merv Griffin's name was a major presence> I knew about his TV show and his creation of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, but this book showed me lots more. First, Merv was a really, really smart guy. A fabulous businessman, negotiator and visionary all at the same time. His intellect was really impressive. Needless to say, he also has innumerable great stories about celebrities, world leaders, athletes and family as well. This book is a little disjointed in its presentation, but being of the age of so many of these happenings I just sucked it up with a smile on my face and never ceased being amazed at his business conquests. Good stuff.

[Dorry Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written in 2003 and I understand he died in 2007 so it covers the last part of his life after learning he had cancer.
He wrote of his successes as well as disappointments. He worked hard and did extremely well. He did not seem to let life get him down." He retires and then does it all again."
His success came during my time of life so I felt I knew him well, but I really learned a lot about him from this book.
I probably would have given it 5 stars except for the language.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

i am out of books to read here in Mexico so am reading the ones i never intended on reading, never thought much of merv and still do not but he sure did get to meet everybody famous in his time.

[Cws]

791.45

[Mandy Huot · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun learning about Merv Griffin, but I found it very unorganized and bouncy, bouncing from more recent years and then back to his childhood years and back again.

[Sheila Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and I learned a lot of things about him that I never knew before.

[Laura Ostermeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fun and enlightening book about Merv Griffin. His stories are just great!