Hangin' with Merv Griffin
Personal Memories of a Gaming Legend
The first time I met Merv Griffin, he was doing a crossword puzzle. That was in 1993. I was a television director producing commercials for Players’ Riverboat Casino. Merv was the company’s main investor and the star of the spots.
Most people remember Merv as the host of The Merv Griffin Show and as the creator of the game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. But for me, personally, his most influential role was as a casino entrepreneur. In 1988, Merv went toe-to-toe with Donald Trump and beat Trump for control of Resorts in Atlantic City. Then Merv invested in riverboats in the early 1990s. That’s how he came into my life, and how he completely changed it.
So there he was, sitting in a makeup chair, carefully scribbling letters in teeny boxes. Obviously, Merv liked to play games, but I wondered how it would be to work with him.
I had no idea that work and play were essentially the same for Merv.
The Money Guy
The woman who hired me for the first Players commercial was three steps removed from upper management. She incorrectly told me that Merv was only a minor investor in Players. She also told me that Merv didn’t like to do multiple takes. But when we started to shoot, of course, she and her bosses complained about one of the takes. So I crept up to Merv and said in a quiet voice, “Um… The money guys want us to shoot it a different way.”
He looked so serious and surprised that I almost crept away. “The who?” he asked. I furtively nodded toward the manager and her millionaire bosses standing off the set in the shadows. “You know, the money guys over there.”
“Oh…” he said in a solemn whisper. “I understand.” Then in a loud voice he shouted across the set, “Hey guys! You know what Basil calls you? He calls you the money guys! Are you the money guys?”
There was a stunned silence in the room. And then out of the darkness the Chairman of the Board sheepishly replied, “No Merv. You’re the money guy.”
Merv gave me a devilish smile. We both started to laugh.
That was the beginning of our wonderful friendship.
Wacky Merv
Over the next few years I did many commercials for Players and also spots for Resorts. These were always comedy bits. I put Merv on top of a piano, in a cowboy costume, dressed him as a rock star, multiplied him a thousand times in an audience, and otherwise poked fun at his public image of being super-rich.
He was always a good sport, clowning around on the set and making us laugh. I was the frequent object of his gentle jokes. He often would tell the crew, “Will somebody please whack that weirdo?” And he once stopped production to ask me with a deadpan tone (as if we were on a vaudeville circuit), “Are you with the show?”
Gradually, I realized that working with Merv wasn’t very much like working. It was more like hanging out and messing around with your best friend.
When we weren’t shooting, I often would visit him at the Beverly Hilton (which he owned at the time), or Resorts, or somewhere else in his far-flung financial empire. We would talk, brainstorm, and test each other’s ideas. Gradually, another realization came to me… hanging with Merv was like working, in that he was always thinking. And he was teaching me. Work and play became one. It was a profound experience.
One of his most important lessons was the value of intellectual property. He parlayed his ownership of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune into billions. And he taught me that there was money to be made in gaming. So I left the advertising business and started writing books and doing other gaming-related projects (in addition to playing professionally). Now I own intellectual property just like Merv. It’s a blessing.
Merv the Winner
Resorts was one of Merv’s biggest gambles, and he took great satisfaction in trumping Trump. Of course, the deal left Trump with the Taj Mahal. That was another example of Merv’s magic. He was always a winner, but he didn’t create losers. That’s why people respected him so much, even his adversaries.
The last time I saw Merv (before his final illness) he was eating frozen yogurt by the pool at the Beverly Hilton. He was telling jokes. We were laughing. We were always laughing.
Merv passed away in August. He was 82.
The man is gone, but his magic is still alive. As I write this, I’m remembering Merv’s wit and wisdom, and in spite of my grief… I am smiling. Merv was the inspiration for my motto…
Enjoy the game!
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