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

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