Peter Marshall, the host of “The Hollywood Squares,” has died. He was 98 years old.
He worked for a long time on the NBC game show, but Peter was also a singer and an actor on Broadway.
His publicist, Harlan Boll, said that the 98-year-old died of kidney failure, which was confirmed by his family.
He died early Thursday morning at his home in Encino, Los Angeles. He used to host a game show.
He was born Ralph Pierre LaCock in West Virginia and became famous as a singer.
“From the beginning, I always wanted to be a singer.” He told a TV station, “I always remember how important music was in my life.”
That being said, the musician quickly became famous as the host of The Hollywood Squares from 1966 to 1981, for which he won four Emmy Awards.
When asked about his job over the 16 years, Peter said that he only worked once a week.
Peter told the Archive of American Television in 2010 that it was the easiest job he had ever had and that he never practiced.
‘Hello stars,’ I said as I walked in. It made me laugh to read the questions.
“And it paid very well.”
Peter used to be the lead in the Broadway musical Skyscraper with Julie Harris before he became the host everyone knew and loved.
Peter didn’t think his job as host of a game show would last as long as it did.
In 2013, he told the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington that it “was just a freak chance.”
“I had been on Broadway with Julie Harris and was going back to Broadway when I did the audition, and I thought it was a few weeks but that turned into 16 years.”
In 2002, Peter came back to a new version of The Hollywood Squares as a panelist.
Peter’s wife Laurie Stewart and four children survive him. One of them, Pete LaCock, played first base for the Chicago Cubs and the Kansas City Royals.
TRIBUTES THAT EMBRACE
When word got out that the game show host had died, fans took to social media to say how sorry they were.
“Awww… another thread of life was torn,” wrote one fan. “Rest well, Mr. Marshall.” “What a talented and well-mannered man.”
Icon from a game show!!! Good that he lived a long time. No changes were made to the original sentence.
A moving tribute to X was written by author Morgan Evans.
The first thing he wrote in his post was, “Rest in peace to my friend Peter Marshall.”
“The six years I spent getting to know Peter were a blessing, and I will miss him very much.”
Morgan then said that he is dating Peter’s granddaughter and that the popular host “came around me like family.”
“Incredibly grateful that I was able to spend time with such a legend.”