On August 15, Peter Marshall died. He was 98 years old when he passed, with news of his death confirmed by his publicist Harlan Boll. Marshall’s cause of death has been attributed to kidney failure. According to his wife Laurie, he passed at his home in Encino, California.
Boasting a career spanning over seven decades, Marshall is remembered as the original host of The Hollywood Squares, where he played the straight man to the variety of celebrity guest contestants the program welcomed. He also proved himself a master of the stage, big screen, and airwaves, and won four Daytime Emmys, and in 2007 was inducted into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame.
The not-so-square Hollywood life of Peter Marshall
Peter Marshall was born as Ralph Pierre LaCock on March 30, 1926, in bustling Huntington, West Virginia. He started with the arts when he switched from serving in the artillery in Italy during World War II to becoming a disc jockey. Back stateside, the checks came in through his collaboration with Tommy Noonan, the two of them in nightclubs and for variety shows. Continuing with his television career, Marshall played the brother-in-law to Lucy’s character in The Lucy Show episode “Lucy’s Sister Pays A Visit.”
Television work remained an inconsistent part of Marshall’s schedule until his friend Morey Amsterdam put Marshall’s name forward as the replacement host for The Hollywood Squares, first emceed by Bert Parks. Although he would become symbolic of the show in its formative years, Marshall originally did not want to host the show, but took the job to ensure comedian Dan Rowan did not get it.
This resentment came from a time Marshall and Noonan had tried to collaborate with Rowan, but Rowan had been disrespectful to Noonan when the latter fell terminally ill; in contrast, the other half of that equation, Dick Martin, had been supportive and sympathetic towards Noonan. What started as a 13-week arrangement became 15 years and over 5,000 episodes.
A friend to all, great and small
Marshall was a man of many hats, from radio personality to singer to actor. He was also an animal lover, and even participated in the 50th anniversary of Betty White’s Pet Set, which was dedicated to educating and endearing audiences to animals.
In a 2019 interview for the Television Academy Foundation, Marshall mused of The Hollywood Squares, “Listen to people, have fun, and know the game. That’s basically all you have to do to be a good game show host” He added, “Know the game thoroughly so if something goes wrong, you know how to rectify it. And most importantly, enjoy the people.”
Marshall is survived by his wife of 35 years, Laurie, as well as daughters Suzanne and Jamie, son Pete, 12 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren; he is predeceased by his son David.
Rest in peace, Peter Marshall.
