Merv Griffin Dies at 82

Merv Griffin died early Sunday of prostate cancer. He was 82.

Griffin got his start as a $100-a-week San Francisco, California, radio singer before he scored his own show, “The Merv Griffin Show”.

But his biggest financial success came from inventing and producing “Jeopardy” in the 1960s and “Wheel of Fortune” in the 1970s.

When they were hot, Griffin sold the rights to Columbia Pictures Television Unit for $250 million, retaining a share of the profits. He invested that money in treasury bonds, stocks, and other sources. Griffin landed on Forbes’ list of richest Americans several times before moving into real estate.

Source: “Merv Griffin dies at 82″ [CNN]; Photo: Biography

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