Nancy Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger attend Merv Griffin funeral
Last Updated: Saturday, August 18, 2007 | 11:09 AM ET
CBC Arts
A host of celebrities including California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former U.S. first lady Nancy Reagan, and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres gathered in Beverly Hills on Friday for the funeral of entertainment mogul Merv Griffin.
"I can say today I wouldn't have gone as far in my career if it wouldn't have been for Merv Griffin," Schwarzenegger said, recalling his appearances on The Merv Griffin Show, which ran for more than 20 years until 1986.
Merv Griffin, pictured here in 2005, died of prostate cancer Aug 12. Griffin's eponymous talk show ran for 21 years. He would become a successful businessman, owning casinos, hotels and even race horses.
(Haraz N. Ghanbari / Associated Press)
Griffin, who died of prostate cancer at the age of 82 on Aug. 12, interviewed 25,000 guests on his show.
"He had me on many times," the bodybuilder/actor-turned-governor said.
"I was on his show to teach him about fitness and he would be teaching me about acting. Well, neither worked," Schwarzenegger told an audience of 500 that also included luminaries such as Alex Trebek, Pat Sajak, Vanna White, Larry King, Suzanne Somers, and Dick Van Dyke.
"I never knew anyone who loved life as much as my father," said Griffin's son Tony at the funeral.
The Roman Catholic mass included a choir singing Amazing Grace.
Afterwards, mourners were planning to drive to the Beverly Hilton, which Griffin bought in 1987 and then sold in 2003, listening to performers from the Young Musician's Foundation and jazz musician Jack Sheldon, a frequent guest on Griffin's talk show.
Interviewed many famous people
Griffin's entertainment career started in the 1950s as a radio singer, moving onto hosting duties on television. He made his mark with his talk show, created in 1965, which included high-profile guests from Martin Luther King to John Lennon to Rose Kennedy.
Griffin went on to create the highly-lucrative game shows Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. He sold the shows in 1986 for $250 million US and parlayed that into a billion-dollar empire that included hotels, casinos and other business ventures.
Although Griffin had retired from show business, he was working on a new show, Merv Griffin's Crosswords, to be launched in September.
"He was funny, just the nicest grandfather," Donovan Griffin told the LA Times. Donovan served as a pallbearer with his father.
"He always remembered everyone's names."
