Merv Griffin Dead at 82

July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007

The first time I met Merv Griffin was in November 1979 when he agreed to have me on his talk show to promote my first book, Starart. Merv did me a huge favor. I'd never been on TV before and I didn't have a publicist pushing for me, or someone calling in a favor. We just presented the project and I was booked. Just like that. Merv didn't even ask if I could bring one of the artists on. He was happy just to have little old me on with my little book. Once I was on the show, he gave me a ton of time plus had me sit next to Jay Leno!

Here's a clip from my appearance on the Merv Griffin show along with an interview with the artists from my book that was filmed at one of our gallery openings:

And a still from the show. L to R clothing designer Bob Mackie, Merv holding my book, Charlie's Angel Cheryl Ladd, Jay Leno applauding my book (how cool is that?) and me:


I met Merv one more time a few years back. I was at the Beverly Hilton Hotel - which Merv owned - and somehow ended up meeting his son, Tony. I really have no idea who I was with or why I was there, but I was at a big table with Tony and a couple of other people in one of the ballrooms for some music show or a dance thing, when Merv strolled in and joined us at the table. He looked much older than when I first met him and was much larger at the time but he was still the sweet man he'd always been. The man who cut a young unknown girl a break.

Thank you, Merv. Everyone who had the opportunity to meet you will certainly miss you.