Entertainment

‘Hollywood Squares’ Host And Broadway Star Peter Marshall Dies At 98

Published

4 weeks ago

2024-08-16

Los Angeles — Peter Marshall, the actor and singer turned game show host who played straight man to the stars for 16 years on “The Hollywood Squares,” has passed away. He was 98.

He died of kidney failure on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles’ Encino neighborhood, according to publicist Harlan Boll.

On more than 5,000 episodes of the series, which aired on NBC from 1966 to 1981, Marshall helped create the mold of the slick, professional, but never overly serious modern game show presenter.

‘Hollywood Squares’ Host And Broadway Star Peter Marshall Dies At 98

But he was often more like a talk show host, and the tic-tac-toe game the participants played, while legitimate, was only an excuse to have fun. Marshall’s queries to regulars such as Paul Lynde, George Gobel, and Joan Rivers were aimed at setting up comic answers before the actual ones.

“It was the easiest thing I’ve ever done in show business,” Marshall stated in a 2010 interview with the Archive of American Television. “I came in, said ‘Hello stars,’ read the questions, and laughed. And it paid quite well.”

“The Hollywood Squares” would become an American cultural institution, establishing Marshall as a household name. During his tenure, it won four Daytime Emmys for outstanding game shows and inspired dozens of international equivalents as well as several US reboots. Not only did it provide a platform for character actors like Charlie Weaver (Cliff Arquette’s stage name) and Wally Cox, but the show also featured several major stars as infrequent guests, including Aretha Franklin, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Ed Asner, and Janet Leigh.

Marshall enjoyed a good rapport with Weaver, Lynde, and others but noted that Gobel, the sarcastic comedian, actor, and variety show host, held a special place in his heart, tweeting in 2021 that “no secret he was my closest friend on Hollywood Squares and my absolute all-time favourite Square!”

Marshall had been in show business practically his whole life before taking the “Squares” stage at forty.

He had toured with big bands as a teenager, was a member of two comedy teams that appeared in nightclubs and on television, had appeared in films as a contract player for Twentieth Century Fox, and had sung in several Broadway musicals when the opportunity arose after Bert Parks, who hosted the pilot, bowed out.

“I am a musician first, not a game show presenter,” Marshall told his hometown newspaper, the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, West Virginia, in 2013. “That was just a freak opportunity. I had previously worked on Broadway with Julie Harris and was about to return when I took the audition, and I assumed it would be a few weeks, but it turned into 16 years.”

“The Hollywood Squares” was more formal at first, but early on, a producer suggested they create jokes for Lynde, the ever-snarky comedic actor who occupied the center square and became as synonymous with the show as Marshall was.

The first joke would lay the groundwork for the years that followed:

Marshall asked: “Paul, why do motorcyclists wear leather?”

She replied: “Because chiffon wrinkles.”

“That changed the whole thing,” Marshall told the TV archive. “I’d been a straight man. So working with comics was simple for me.”

Born Ralph Pierre LaCock in Clarksburg, West Virginia, Marshall moved about the state as a youth, residing in Wheeling and Huntington.

Marshall’s father died when he was ten, and he lived with his grandparents while his mother and sister, actress Joanne Dru, relocated to New York to pursue a career in show business. Marshall would eventually join them.

At 15, he went on tour as a singer with the Bob Chester Orchestra. He also worked as an NBC Radio page and an usher at the Paramount Theatre. During World War II, he was drafted and stationed in Italy, where he began his career as an Armed Forces Radio DJ. In 1949, he created a comedic team with Tommy Noonan and performed in nightclubs, theatres, and on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

In the 1950s, he worked as a cinematic contract player for Twentieth Century Fox, playing in films such as 1959’s “The Rookie” and 1961’s “Swingin’ Along.”

Major roles eluded him in Hollywood, but he discovered them in musical theatre.

He performed opposite Chita Rivera in “Bye Bye Birdie” in London’s West End in 1962 — Lynde had already had a key role in the Broadway version, which he would reprise in the film — and made his Broadway debut in “Skyscraper” with Julie Harris in 1965.

‘Hollywood Squares’ Host And Broadway Star Peter Marshall Dies At 98

He also appeared in Broadway productions of “High Button Shoes,” “The Music Man,” and “42nd Street.”

After “The Hollywood Squares,” Marshall hosted a few additional short-lived game programs before returning to his singing career, appearing in over 800 Broadway and tour performances of “La Cage Aux Folles” and singing in the 1983 film adaptation of “Annie.”

He was married three times, the latest being to Laurie Stewart in 1989.

The pair survived an episode of COVID-19 in early 2021. He was hospitalized for a few weeks.

His four children include Pete LaCock, a professional baseball player for the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals. Marshall is also survived by two daughters, Suzanne and Jaime, a son, David, twelve granddaughters, and nine great-great grandchildren.

SOURCE | AP

Related Topics:Hollywood Squares Peter Marshall

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The Last Showgirl With Pamela Anderson Wows Toronto Film Festival

Published

2 days ago

2024-09-08

Geoff Thomas

The Last Showgirl With Pamela Anderson Toronto Film Festival

The Last Showgirl - Getty Images

The Toronto International Film Festival increased the razzle dazzle factor on the second day of its 49th edition with the world premiere of “The Last Showgirl,” a Vegas-set drama in which star Pamela Anderson enters the awards season conversation for the first time in her illustrious career.

Gia Coppola’s (“Palo Alto”) film follows a 30-year professional dancer who works in sequins in the last remaining classic floor show in Sin City, a gambling paradise. Dave Bautista plays the show’s stage manager, who must inform the dancers that their act will close permanently in two weeks.

Kiernan Shipka from “Mad Men” and Brenda Song are the next-generation dancers who perform alongside Anderson, while Billie Lourd plays her estranged daughter.

Jamie Lee Curtis, a recent Oscar winner with a perma-tan and frosted lipstick, provides comic relief as a Vegas cocktail waitress who must deal with rude clients while working for tips at a casino.

Anderson garnered loud ovation when she arrived for a post-credits Q&A. Wearing black trousers, a black top and dark sunglasses, the singer discussed her transition from ’90s sex symbol to playing Shelley, a dreamer who is overlooked in the Vegas whirl due to her age.

“I’ve spent my entire life preparing for this film,” she deadpanned, eliciting raucous laughs. “I’ve never felt so strongly about anything [as this picture]. It was do it or be it, and I did it.”

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Tim Burton’s ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ a Box Office Success Gets 4.5 Stars

Published

4 days ago

2024-09-07

Geoff Thomas

Beetlejuice is 41% ahead of the norm for the action comedy sci-fi genre - Netflix Image

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice preview reportedly made $13 million for Warner Bros. Fans gave it 4.5 stars on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak, while both parents and children under the age of 12 gave it 5 stars.

The sequel has a current budget of $90 million, with room to grow.

The sequel starring Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, and Winona Ryder had 59% female attendees, with 73% of those attendees being 25 and older. In terms of gender, 62% of the children were girls and 38% were boys. Last night, the Latino and Hispanic community had an impressive showing at 36% of the total audience.

According to Yahoo Entertainment, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice social media reach With 508.6 million followers across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube, and Instagram combined, Beetlejuice is 41% ahead of the norm for the action comedy sci-fi genre.

“Jenna Ortega has stunned her 38.2 million Instagram followers with 103.1 million views, while Michael Keaton has 1.58 million and Willem Dafoe has 155 thousand,” the social media analytics company adds.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a Remarkable Sequel

Additionally, they mention, “Convo for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice A remarkable feat for a sequel, Beetlejuice has received mostly good reviews from audiences who have praised the film for its originality and sense of purpose. ‘At first, I thought this was another Scream movie, then I thought it was the Wednesday Season 2!’ A number of fans, including new viewers, are ecstatic to see Jenna Ortega in a horror film.

According to fans of the 1988 original, “My inner child from the 80’s is screaming!” when asked about the style of Jenna Ortega’s flicks. I’m more pumped up for this movie than any other! “I admire the practical effects and the attempts to make it look like the old movie!!” is one commenter’s praise for the show’s expert production values and impressive use of special effects.

You can count on seeing a plethora of costumed fans at the movies this weekend.

A large number of collectible concessions are also available. Beetlejuice jack-in-the-box popcorn buckets are available at Cinemark, competing with Sandworm and Wolverine

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Trump Film ‘The Apprentice’ Finds Distributor and Will Open Before the Election

Published

1 week ago

2024-08-31

Kiara Grace

NEW YORK — Trump Film | After failing to generate interest following its Cannes Film Festival screening, “The Apprentice,” starring Sebastian Stan as a teenage Donald Trump, has found a distributor who intends to release the film right before the election in November.

Briarcliff Entertainment will release “The Apprentice” in theatres across the United States and Canada on October 11, just weeks before the November 5 election.

Director Ali Abbasi, a Danish-Iranian filmmaker, had prioritized releasing “The Apprentice” in theatres before electors voted. After major studios and film distributors declined to bid on the project, Abbasi complained on X in early June that “for some reason certain power people in your country don’t want you to see it!!!”

Trump film ‘The Apprentice’ finds distributor and will open before the election

In a statement issued Friday, Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, described the film’s release as “election interference by Hollywood elites right before November.”

“This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should never see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a skip fire,” Cheung tweeted.

The prospect of legal action was one factor that decreased interest in “The Apprentice”. After the film’s Cannes premiere in May, Cheung labeled it “pure fiction” and stated that the Trump team would pursue a lawsuit “to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers.”

“The Apprentice” follows Trump’s rise to dominance in New York real estate, guided by defense attorney Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). Late in the film, Trump is seen raping his wife, Ivana Trump (portrayed by Maria Bakalova). In her 1990 divorce deposition, Ivana Trump alleged Donald Trump raped her. Trump rejected the claim, and Ivana Trump later clarified that she did not mean it literally but rather that she felt violated.

Abbasi has stated that Trump might not despise the film.

Trump film ‘The Apprentice’ finds distributor and will open before the election

“I would offer to go and meet him wherever he wants and talk about the context of the movie, have a screening and have a chat afterwards, if that’s interesting to anyone at the Trump campaign,” Abbasi stated during the May election.

Briarcliff Entertainment has published several films, including the 2022 documentary “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” and the Liam Neeson thriller “Memory.” The indie distributor is led by Tom Ortenberg, who helped Lionsgate distribute Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” and, as CEO of Open Road, supported the best picture Oscar winner “Spotlight.”

SOURCE | AP