Iconic game show host Peter Marshall has died at 98. Audiences will remember Marshall as the longtime host of Hollywood Squares. He hosted the gameshow for 15 years from 1966 to 1981. Marshall passed away on Thursday from kidney failure.
While in the Army, Marshall got a job as a disc jockey for the military's radio. Following his service, he began to perform in nightclubs and transitioned to being an actor on both Broadway and in film. However, most people will remember Marshall for his hosting duties on the Hollywood Squares. Sadly, that game show ended rather shockingly and abruptly.
"[Fred Silverman], he turned down Hollywood Squares when he was the head of CBS," he told Fox News. "He always hated the show! And then he came over to NBC and he kept changing our time, trying to get us off. And finally, he brought David Letterman for an hour and a half. And that's when he canceled it. But that wouldn't work! David Letterman is not daytime. David Letterman is late night. And I was right. ... We were doing great. And then he canceled it to put David Letterman on, which didn't work. But then they put him on late at night, and he was wonderful."
After the game show ended, Marshall continued to work and stay busy.
"Well, I had a career besides that," he said at the time. "I was working Vegas 26 weeks a year. I would do theater. So after I did 'Squares,' I did another show called Fantasy Island for two years. ... And I've just stayed busy. You move on in this business. That's the great adventure. I've always worked. I've been one of the lucky guys."
Game Show Host Had Health Scares
In recent years, Marshall has struggled with his health. The game show host ended up hospitalized during the pandemic and came close to death.
"From the time I went to the hospital, I worried I wouldn't make it because of how many people seemed to be dying from it, and given my age, I knew I was at high risk for dying from it," he said. "Then in the hospital, I continued to decline. I knew I was dying in the hospital. Every time I spoke to my wife, I wondered if it was the last time we'd speak."
"The medical team my wife found for me once she brought me home is what saved my life," Marshall said at the time. "Mind you, I wasn't so sure that was a good thing. I was in very, very bad physical shape at that point, and didn't want to linger if I was leaving the world, which seemed to be the case."
He almost died from pneumonia.
"I got through the virus pretty easily, but my system was weakened, and I contracted pneumonia," he explained. "That also turned into sepsis. Any one of those three by themselves is enough to kill someone my age. It took a lot of medical expertise to turn that around. Miraculous, to say the least."
The game show host survived the bout and lived a few more years. His legacy will continue on.
