Peter Marshall, the iconic game show host known for his 16-year run on “The Hollywood Squares,” died from kidney failure at the age of 98 on Thursday at his home in Encino, California, according to his publicist, Harlan Boll.
Marshall hosted over 5,000 episodes of “The Hollywood Squares” from 1966 to 1981. He was instrumental in shaping the role of the modern game show host, according to ABC News.
Born Ralphi Pierre LaCock, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, Marshall’s career spanned multiple areas of the entertainment business. He was a singer, actor and comedian.
Before his stint with “The Hollywood Squares,” Marshall toured with big bands, appeared in movies and on the Broadway stage, ABC News reported. As the show’s host, he worked with legends such as Paul Lynde, George Gobel, Joan Rivers, and several more. “Working with comics was easy for me,” he said. (RELATED: Legendary Comedian Gallagher Dies At 76)
In a 2018 interview with Smashing Interviews Magazine, the host reminisced about his time on “The Hollywood Squares,” explaining why the show was such a success. “It was very innovative. Nobody had ever seen nine stars together,” Marshall said. “It was a fun game. We had a lot of humor involved. It was just different, and it was fun. I thought it was a 13-week job, to be frank with you, and it ran 16 years on daytime and eight years on nighttime. It was a wonderful experience.”
The host also described working with comedian Paul Lynde, who frequently snuck sexual innuendos into the show. Marshall indicated that the censors “cut out a lot of things” but “a lot of things they didn’t understand, so we just did it.”
Marshall is survived by his wife, Laurie Stewart, whom he married in 1989 and his four children, 12 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.