Merv Griffin

Merv Griffin is pictured during the taping of his final show, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Aug. 20, 1986. Griffin, who went from big-band era crooner to fabulously successful TV talk show host before making a fortune as the creator of two of television's most popular game shows and then parlaying that into a billion-dollar hotel empire, died Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007. He was 82.

Television talk show host Merv Griffin is shown in this 1982 photo. Griffin never stopped working, not until the very end. When he entered a hospital a month ago, he was working on the first week of production of a new syndicated game show called "Merv Griffin's Crosswords."

Television talk show host Merv Griffin speaks in front of an audience in this undated photo in Los Angeles. From his beginning as a $100-a-week radio singer, Griffin became a sometime film actor, TV talk-show host and creator of a game-show empire that landed him on Forbes' list of the richest Americans.

Merv Griffin, owner of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, sits poolside at the hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., in this Feb. 21, 2003 file photo. When "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune," two shows he invented and produced, became the hottest on television, he sold their rights for $250 million, retaining a share of the profits. He continued to receive royalties for the popular "Jeopardy!" theme song, which he wrote.

Merv Griffin, 79, poses for a photo at his office in Beverly Hills, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2004. Griffin was nowhere near ready to retire. He invested the sale money in treasury bonds, stocks and other investments, then went into real estate and other ventures because "I was never so bored in my life," he said in an interview.

Merv Griffin poses at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., July 3, 1989. Griffin bought the Beverly Hilton hotel for $100.2 million and completely refurbished it for $25 million.

TV personality Merv Griffin in a 1979 file photo. Griffin made a move for control of Resorts International, which operated hotels and casinos from Atlantic City, N.J., to the Caribbean. That touched off a feud with real-estate tycoon Donald Trump. Griffin eventually acquired Resorts for $240 million, netting a reported paper profit of $100 million.

Merv Griffin, seen here during the taping of his final show on Aug. 20, 1986, died Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007, at age 82. In recent years, Griffin rated frequent mentions in the sports pages as a successful race horse owner. His colt Stevie Wonderboy, named for entertainer Stevie Wonder, won the $1.5 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2005.

Larry King, right, congratulates Merv Griffin, left, as Griffin accepted the award for his horse Stevie Wonderboy, 2-year-old male horse of the year, at the 35th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony, Jan. 23, 2006, in Beverly Hills, Calif.

According to his Web site, Griffin became a fan of racing when he was a child and went to the race track with his father and uncles. He even saw the legendary Seabiscuit run twice.

First lady Nancy Reagan chats with talk show host Merv Griffin in Los Angeles, on Oct. 6, 1982, when she appeared for a taping of Griffin's show to promote her new book on foster grandparents, "To Love A Child."

Entertainer and media mogul Merv Griffin, left, smiles at San Mateo High School singers who sang for him in San Mateo, Calif., Friday, Feb. 10, 2006, during a dedication of the Merv Griffin Quad. Griffin was born in San Mateo on July 6, 1925.

Entertainer and media mogul Merv Griffin, right, laughs with San Mateo High School principal Jacquie McEvoy, left, in San Mateo, Calif., Friday, Feb. 10, 2006 during a dedication of the Merv Griffin Quad. Griffin, 82, graduated from the school in 1942.

TV personality Merv Griffin and news anchor Walter Cronkite attend the Museum of Television and Radio gala honoring of Merv Griffin at the Waldorf Astoria on May 26, 2005 in New York.

In the 1950s, Griffin appeared on various talk shows as a guest and was hired in 1958 to host the game show "Play Your Hunch."

Donald Trump, left, gestures skywards as he explains the laser show and fireworks to entertainer Merv Griffin, before grand opening night of the Taj Mahal Casino Resort, in Atlantic City, N.J., on April 5, 1990. Griffin, who once owned the Taj Mahal, swapped it for the Resorts International Casino which was owned by Trump.

Ronald Prescott Reagan, back to camera, talks with Hollywood mogul Merv Griffin, center right, as they arrive at a funeral home in Santa Monica, Calif., Monday, June 7, 2004.

Merv Griffin in action during the Nancy Reagan Tennis Open on Oct. 6, 1990.