Was merv griffin a homosexual

This announce, written by Pam Spaulding, originally appeared on Pandagon

Merv Griffin, the entertainment mogul who passed away the other afternoon at 82, has been rightfully lionized for his role in Hollywood history. The producer of "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" turned those game shows into a multimillion-dollar empire, and did equally well as a hotelier/casino mogul.

What you didn't observe in the MSM obits (aside from the one in the New York Times) was a mention of Griffin's openly closeted life.

In a Rolling Stone piece about Griffin in , it notes that Merv was sued twice in , the first a "palimony" lawsuit by a former employee, the second a accuse from "Dance Fever" host Deney Terrio that the impresario made a hand over at him then fired him for not complying. Both suits were tossed out. However:

Merv does not refute the underlying implication in both cases: that he is male lover. Nor does he admit to it. Instead, he mentions the high-profile partnership that he began with actress

It is almost sad to hear how many times Merv was "beat out" of a chance at a real movie career by Gordon MacRaeeven DoDo wanted him to costar with her in some of the Warner's Musicals.

Well Gordon was hard to beat! But I don't accept the premise that MacRae could/should be blamed - talent will out and all that. And Gordon was a major talent and, like Doris, somewhat taken for granted because he also made it look effortless in the Warner Bros stock company. As Doris went on the bigger and better things musically, so did Gordon. Could you see Merv Griffin (not a great film name) starring in Carousel or Oklahoma ?

As for the gay thing, I discovered that when I did a search for details of the interview - I don't know him from Adam, living in the UK, so it didn't mean anything in terms of being 'surprised' but it did remind me that Doris has had many gay friends in and out of show business.

Follow Remembering Doris Day:

Gay Singer and Media Billionaire

He was a young singer who gladly accepted $ to sing at sky-high school proms, yet went on to become a media billionaire. In his youth he had a crush on Errol Flynn. For a year and a half his roommate was Montgomery Clift. He lived with Roddy McDowall at the Dakota on Central Park West. He dated Rock Hudson, who encouraged him to preserve his homosexuality quiet. As well, he had liaisons with Tom Drake, James Dean, Peter Lawford, Robert Walker, Gordon Scott (Tarzan), not to mention Marlon Brando. He was a regular at Liberace&#;s all-male orgies.

He neither confirmed nor denied his homosexuality, but Eva Gabor, his long-time beard, provided enough cover that he had access to the Reagan White House (he was particularly close to Nancy, with whom he mutual a birthday, July 6), and he was an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of President Ronald Reagan in

As a teenager he was a church organist and piano prodigy, but at was his smooth singing voice that launched a career as an entertainer. During the s he hosted his own TV converse show, usually crooning a song o

Merv Griffin's Dangerous Closet

The Hollywood mogul Merv Griffin died at the age of 82 over the weekend after a battle with cancer, and I was amazed to see The New York Times actually discuss his sexual orientation, the palimony lawsuit and the male-on-male sexual harassment lawsuit. I'm thinking perhaps the Times editors really took it to heart when many of us criticized them after Susan Sontag's death and the obituary cover-up of her sexual orientation and her relationship with Annie Liebovitz. So far, in the the rest of the obits on Griffin (Reuters, Associated Press) I've seen nothing about his homosexuality.

And yet, it is very essential for reasons far beyond noticeability or mere gossip. Merv Griffin was an example of how dangerous the closet can be -- and how the closet and power are a combustible combination that adversely affects so many other lives. We should point to his life for GLBT youth and say, "Don't let this happen to you. Don't let your closet compromise you to the point where you are actively harming your own people, even though you have the power to perform so