Peter Marshall, actor and legendary 'Hollywood Squares' host, dies
The Hollywood Squares Host Peter Marshall -- Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank
Actor Peter Marshall, who hosted "The Hollywood Squares" for 16 years, has died at 98.
Marshall’s publicist told The Associated Press that the actor died Thursday of kidney failure at his home in Los Angeles.
From Broadway to game show host
"The Hollywood Squares" ran on NBC from 1966 to 1981. Marshall hosted more than 5,000 episodes, his fans likening him more to a talk show host than a tic-tac-toe game show host.
"The Hollywood Squares" would become an American game show institution, making Marshall a household name. Regulars on the show included Paul Lynde, George Gobel and Joan Rivers, among others.
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"It was the easiest thing I’ve ever done in show business," Marshall said in a 2010 interview for the Archive of American Television. "I walked in, said ‘Hello stars,’ I read questions and laughed. And it paid very well."
Before he landed the hosting gig, Marshall toured with big bands starting as a teenager, was a part of two comedy teams that appeared in nightclubs and on television, appeared in movies as a contract player for Twentieth Century Fox, and sang in several Broadway musicals.
He was married three times, the last to Laurie Stewart in 1989.
His four kids include son Pete LaCock, a professional baseball player for the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals. Marshall is also survived by daughters Suzanne and Jaime, son David, 12 grandchildren, and nine great-great grandchildren.