Merv Griffin- A Life in the Closet

by Darwin Porter

  After that, Merv didn't see Monty for several months. One early morning at around three o'clock, a call came in from Hollywood. It was Monty, who sounded drunk. He professed his undying love for “Bessie Mae,” his nickname for Elizabeth Taylor. He told Merv that her divorce from Michael Wilding was imminent and that he planned to marry her. “We are going to learn how to be as intimate as two people can be without sex,” Monty said. He then revealed plans for their upcoming film together, Raintree County, where Elizabeth would play a neurotic, predatory Southern belle.

  The next news from Monty came not from him but as part of a desperate early morning call from Elizabeth in Los Angeles. In a teary voice, she informed Merv that after a dinner party at her house Monty's car had gone over a ravine as he tried to maneuver it down a winding hill to Sunset Boulevard. “When I ran down the hill and got to him, his face was a bloody pulp,” she almost screamed into the phone. “It was gone!”

  She burst into hysterical sobbing and had to put down the phone. Merv later learned that she'd raced from her house down the hill to the wreck where she'd discovered Monty choking to death. In desperation, she'd reached deep into his throat and removed his two front teeth, which had been rammed into his throat by the impact of the accident.

  Like one of the movie heroes he played, Rock Hudson, also a guest at Elizabeth's house that night, had raced down the hill. After struggling for half an hour, he managed to extricate Monty from the wreckage, which looked like a crumpled accordion. An ambulance called by Michael Wilding finally arrived.

  Merv was deeply saddened by the news and wanted to fly to Los Angeles to be at Monty's bedside. But he'd already committed himself to a number of gigs and couldn't get away. When Merv finally got through to Monty on the phone, the fallen star had left the hospital and was living in someone's house on Dawn Ridge Road.

  “They've made a new face for me,” Monty told Merv. “Remember that movie you made about the Rue Morgue? I could star in it now. Those magazines that used to say I had the most beautiful face of any male star in Hollywood won't be writing such shit about me any more.”

  In his first autobiography, Merv relates an incident involving Monty's return to New York after his accident. The disfigured star went from the house of one friend to another to see if he would be recognized with his remarkably altered face, the creation of plastic surgeons. One night after midnight, Merv had to get up to answer the urgent ringing of his doorbell. With his dog, he made his way down the steps since his intercom was out of order.

  Montgomery Clift

  after the rebuilding of his face.

  He dared to open to the door just a crack to see who it was, thinking it might be an old drunk or else a serial killer. A mysterious stranger was standing on the stoop, wearing a black overcoat, a wide-brimmed black felt hat, and sunglasses in the dim light. Sounding as ferocious as he could, Merv demanded to know who it was. In his book, he quotes the stranger as saying, “You don't know me, do you?”

  Merv knew Monty's voice at once and apologized for not recognizing him in the darkness. It was too late. Even though Merv called for Monty to come back, he disappeared down the street, as if running away from himself.

  ***

  Merv's next job was for CBS on The Morning Show, which was that network's answer to the challenge imposed by NBC's popular Today show. “I took the job—first, because I needed it, and, second, because this was the show where Jack Paar got his start, and I wanted to be the next Jack Paar.”

  On the show, Merv was to sing and talk with Paar's replacement, Texasborn John Henry Faulk. The TV talk show host was later blacklisted because of the long arm extended from the McCarthy era of the 1950s. Faulk was falsely accused of being a member of various Communist front groups.

  Faulk later sued Aware, Inc., an organization that screened performers for the television industry, systematically exposing anyone alleged to have affiliations with various Communisttainted front groups. In his case, Faulk was represented by famed attorney Louis Nizer.

  After a sixyear battle in the courts, Faulk was awarded the largest libel judgment in history to that date, $3.5 million. His suit, and his subsequent victory, was largely responsible for breaking the “Blacklist” within the television industry.

  Merv bonded with Faulk and sympathized with his dilemma, later praising the Emmy Awardwinning TV movie, Fear on Trial, made in 1975 and shown on CBS. It starred William Devane as Faulk, with George C. Scott playing his lawyer, Louis Nizer.

  On air, the sponsor of The Morning Show, American Airlines, served Faulk and Merv a large breakfast of flapjacks, scrambled eggs, and sizzling bacon with hash brown potatoes at seven o'clock every morning. Both Faulk and Merv had to eat the same mammoth breakfast at nine o'clock for their California audience. There was no tape in those days, so the show and that breakfast had to be repeated in its entirety. Merv grew so bored with the show that one day he set the weatherman's report on fire.

  Faulk became too much of a “hot potato” for CBS and was let go. “When I left the show, I recommended to CBS that they promote Merv as my direct replacement, elevating him from the #2 ‘cohost’ role,” Faulk said. “He was easy to work with and came across as very amiable on camera. He was witty and a skilled interviewer, though he never asked embarrassing questions. Sometimes we sat chatting on air with each other and often couldn't remember the name of our next guest or why he'd been booked on our show.”

  CBS rejected the idea of promoting Merv as the show's frontman, hiring instead a struggling young newcomer, Dick Van Dyke, who'd previously worked as a disc jockey in New Orleans. Before getting this break, Dick had found show business a hard road. At one point, he and his wife, Margie Willett, were so poor that they had to live in their car.

  Minutes before the taping of Van Dyke's debut show, the director had waited until the last minute for Dick to show up. Only one minute before air time, he informed Merv that no one had been able to reach Dick and that Merv had to go on alone as the host of the show.

  With no preparation, Merv more or less adlibbed his way through the show. As the show was going off the air, Dick called the studio. He'd overslept.

  To Merv's surprise, Dick went on to great success. Merv was always a bit jealous of Dick, viewing him as a rival. But whenever he encountered him in the years ahead, he masked that feeling. There was always a friendly banter between these two performers.

  Unknown to Dick, Merv had been one of several competitors for the role of Rob Petrie on what later became The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961). Merv lost the role, initially to Johnny Carson, who, at least in the talkshow circuit, eventually become Merv's biggest rival. Merv later read in Variety that Johnny's bid for the role of Rob Petrie was rejected at the last minute in favor of Dick Van Dyke, who went on to achieve phenomenal ratings in a show that ended up bearing his name.

  Merv went to see Dick attempt a Cockney accent in Mary Poppins (1964), and he ran into him later at a party.“That was the worst attempt at a Cockney accent I've ever heard,” Merv jokingly chided him. “If you want to know what Cockney sounds like, listen to my recording of ‘I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts’ day in and day out.”

  “Some day, Alice, to the moon,” Dick said.

  A hot new talk-show host:

  Merv

  The Morning Show became Merv's best rehearsal to date for his future as a talk show host. He was on for about six months before CBS let him go. The executives decided to give the host job to-Will Rogers Jr., with whom Merv had worked on the film, The Boy from Oklahoma. An executive at CBS told Merv that he was competent and qualified for the host job, but lacked the folksy, homespun quality that Will Jr. could bring to the show. “If Will runs out of something to say, he can always twirl a rope,” Merv said.

  Merv's everfaithful agent, Marty Kummer, almost immediately came up with another job offer wherein Merv would fill in for Bob Smith, the emcee of TV's popular children's program, The Howdy Doody Show. Smith, a beloved pioneer of that program, had had a hear
t attack, and Merv was offered a role as his replacement, with the understanding that it was only temporary, and that it would end when Smith recovered from his nearfatal stroke. Bob went under the name of Buffalo Bob Smith and wore an Indian costume, claiming that he was a descendant of the Native American chieftain who had once worn the same costume.

  Merv needed a job, but he was hesitant about filling the shoes of a TV personality who had won the hearts of millions of America's babyboomer children. Merv also protested to Marty that “I'm not an Indian.”

  After mulling it over, Merv finally turned down the job. “Howdy Doody, a god damn puppet, would steal every scene from me,” he told Marty.“Get me another job—and quick. My bank balance is dropping even as we speak. Besides, I think Howdy Doody is a sissy.”

  ***

  The Robert Q. Lewis Show was a popular TV series that was broadcast over the-American airwaves between 1954 and 1956. Its bespectacled host and namesake was a wellknown and highly eccentric radio and television comedian, Robert Q. Lewis. Irving Mansfield, husband of the bestselling novelist Jacqueline Susann, was responsible for scouting new talent for the show.

  When the producers brought Irving in, there was immediate tension between Irving and Lewis, who wanted to be in charge of the selection of talent for his show himself.

  Irving had learned that Lewis needed a summer replacement for his juvenile singer, Richard Hayes, and Irving also knew that Merv was out of work and in desperate need of a job.

  Irving pitched an offer to Merv's agent, and Marty called Merv with the details. The gig paid five hundred dollars a week. Although Merv would have preferred the job held by Lewis himself, he gratefully accepted because he direly needed the money.

  Although a forgotten name today, Richard Hayes was a pop music star in what is now called “the Interlude Era,” between the crooners of the mid1940s and the rockers of the mid50s.

  Merv was leery of replacing him, since he knew that he was Lewis's favorite singer. “That fucker, Lewis, is going to hate me before I even open my mouth,” Merv had told Marty, and was amazingly accurate about that assessment.

  Lewis was known for his fondness for show business nostalgia, and in general he liked the numbers Merv selected to sing. “I love the songs, hate the singer,” Lewis told Irving Mansfield. But instead of reinforcing Merv, he ridiculed him, telling associates, “That creep Irving Mansfield forced Griffin onto me. I didn't want him on my show. He doesn't really have a voice. He takes a great number like ‘That Old Black Magic’ and completely fucks it up.”

  Actually, Lewis suspected that Merv would make a terrific emcee of the show and as such, might represent a serious threat. In time, and as Merv's reputation as a competent talk show host grew, Lewis substituted for—and ultimately replaced—Merv as host of Play Your Hunch, a TV show that lay in Merv's future.

  Before actually meeting Lewis as part of a confrontation Merv dreaded, he tried to learn all he could about his new boss. Lewis, who was born with the name of Goldberg, was associated with distinctive hornrimmed spectacles, which became a virtual trademark on his TV programs. Lewis frequently sat in for TV host Arthur Godfrey when he was ill or otherwise unable to perform.

  Godfrey, however, eventually turned on Lewis for reasons which aren't clear. In front of their associates, Godfrey claimed that the “Q” in Lewis's name actually stood for “queer.” On the air he made veiled references to Lewis's homosexuality, and in private, Godfrey called Lewis “a faggot.” At one point Godfrey, getting it all wrong, even spread a story that Merv and Lewis were having an affair.

  Actually the “Q” in Lewis's name stood for nothing, and certainly not his middle name. He'd borrowed it from a fictitious radio character, “Colonel Lemuel Q. Stoopnagle,” which originated as part of a comedy routine developed by radio comedian F. Chase Taylor in 1942.

  Lewis had scored his biggest hit in 1951 with a dialect novelty song, “Where's a Your House?,” an answer to Rosemary Clooney's hit, “Come Ona-My House.” For a brief period, Rosemary became romantically involved with Lewis. She was dating him at the time she met her future husband, Jose Ferrer, who was appearing on Broadway with Gloria Swanson in a revival of Twentieth Century, a play which had made its debut back in 1932.

  Merv called Rosemary as a means of finding out what she might reveal about Lewis. “He's a real pain in the ass to work with,” Rosemary said. “He likes to control everything. Our romance never got off the ground. He's really gay, but he gets hysterical if someone suggests that. That's why he hates Arthur Godfrey so much. Godfrey's a prick, but he knows the truth about Robert. To deflect suspicion about himself, Robert calls you the gay singer, and he hasn't met you. When Irving booked you on the show, Robert called me and asked me if you were gay. I told him you weren't—that you chased after showgals all the time. I don't think he believed me.”

  Merv wanted to meet the orchestra leader of the show, Ray Block, and he went up and introduced himself to the diminutive and bespectacled music man. “I don't think I can ever forgive you for ruining my Hollywood career,” Merv said with a smile.

  Block looked astonished, not really knowing what Merv meant.

  “You were the vocal coach for Gordon MacRae—don't deny it,” Merv said. “Had it not been for MacRae, I would have been the one romancing Doris Day on screen.”

  By the second day on the job, Lewis still hadn't spoken to Merv, but Merv nonetheless saw a display of Lewis's temper up close. Lewis became so mad at the way Block was conducting a number that he picked up a chair on the sound stage and tossed it at him. The chair narrowly missed Block, landing in the otherwise empty orchestra pit.

  A particularly dynamic entertainer who appeared regularly on the Robert Q. Lewis Show was Coloradoborn Jaye P. Morgan. Her rich singing voice and wholesome appeal captivated audiences, and she helped improve Lewis's sagging ratings. By the time Merv met her, she'd evolved into one of the top recording artists of the 1950s. Merv bonded with her the moment they were introduced. They began “dating” on an irregular basis, with Jaye becoming another of Merv's “gal pals.” It was not a serious romance, and the friendship which formed in the 1950s endured into the 1970s when Jaye became a regular on The Merv Griffin Show.

  “I loved the way she laughed,” Merv recalled, “and she had an outrageous sense of humor.” These characteristics would later be showcased on The Gong Show where Jaye was a resident female celebrity judge.

  She'd started singing at the age of three, and later took the nickname Jaye P. from the banker, J.P. Morgan. Merv had wanted to record a duet with Jaye. It was called “Chee Cheeoo Chee,” but Perry Como beat him to it. The song became a smash hit with Perry and Jaye. “It would have sold more millions,” Merv said, “if Jaye had let me do it.”

  Early talk-show monsters:

  Arthur Godfrey (top),

  and Robert Q. Lewis

  Like Rosemary, Jaye warned Merv about Lewis's temper. In an autobiography, Merv quoted Jaye as saying: “Lewis will scream at you in rehearsal, he will throw things. He just goes into fits and there's hell to pay. You'll know he's about to blow when his face gets red and his nostrils flare and his eyebrows go up to his hairline—that's when to duck.”

  In Merv's second autobiography, published after Lewis's death, Merv claimed that Lewis was “insane,” citing the talk show host's lack of humor and comparing his looks to a “dyspeptic accountant.”

  During his days on The Robert Q. Lewis Show, Merv officially “dated” Jaye P. Morgan, unofficially going home to Hadley after midnight. In his column, Walter Winchell, even though he knew better, wrote that “wedding bells will soon be ringing for two singers, Jaye P. Morgan and Merv Griffin.”

  Such was not to be the case. Whereas Merv struck out with Lewis, he formed a bond with Lewis's secretary, Julann Elizabeth Wright. They became friends and eventually dated in a rather casual way, not exclusively. The friendship between Merv and Julann led to their marriage in 1958. Their union produced a son, Anthony Griffin, nicknamed “Ton
y,” who was born December 8, 1959.

  Time and distance would drive the Griffins apart, their divorce becoming finalized in 1976 after a difficult financial settlement. During his marriage, Merv continued to lead a private and closeted life, far removed from his family, and presumably even beyond the knowledge of that family. Tony eventually married and gave Merv two grandchildren, daughter Fatah and son Donovan Mervyn.

  After his departure from the Robert Q. Lewis show, Merv accepted an offer as emcee of a travelogue and variety show, Going Places, whose weekly broadcasts emanated from different venues within Florida, including the Jai-Alai Fronton or Cypress Gardens.

  Merv and Hadley flew to Florida every Friday afternoon, returning the following Sunday night. Hadley loved Florida, and sometimes stayed there after Merv's Sunday departure, remaining on site and at leisure for the entire week.

  The show was covered by the local press, but Merv was still so unknown that few of the local papers spelled his name right. He was variously known as Herb Griffin, Mirth Griffin, and Mark Griffin. The Miami Herald called him Mary Griffin. “A paper in California also called me Mary Griffin,” he told Hadley. “Maybe these newspaper boys know me better than I want them to.”

  The low point of the TV series came in Cypress Gardens, where three minutes before air time, Merv took a call from his sister Barbara in San Mateo. She informed him that their father had died of a heart attack at the age of fifty-five.

  Merv had spoken to his parents only the week before and had no clue that Merv Senior's health was in any jeopardy. Before putting Merv's mother on the phone, his father had uttered his final words to his son. “Keep up the good work—I'm proud of you—and keep your nose clean.”