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Peter Marshall

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia Start Price:10.00 USD
Peter Marshall
The winning bidder will be contacted to choose times for scheduling the call. Once a time is confirmed with the celebrity, the winner will be notified and then called at that time.
Peter Marshall

Peter Marshall is known to millions as the former host of TV's, "The Hollywood Squares," a show so popular in its heyday it was something of a pop-culture fixture. The shame of it is, many people think that "Squares" is all Marshall's done, but they're wrong. He's been a big-band singer, a Broadway and film actor, part of a successful comedy team, and a nightclub and concert performer.

Peter Marshall was born Ralph Pierre LaCock on March 30, 1927, in Huntington, W. Va. His father, Ralph, was a pharmacist who died when Peter was just 12. His mother, Jeanne, was a seamstress and aspiring costume designer who moved the family to New York after Ralph's death, where she got a job as a saleswoman at Macy's. Peter's older sister, Joanne, began a career in modeling.

At 14, Peter got a job as a page at NBC, but singing and acting were his passions. By the time he was 15, he was already singing in a big band. At 22, nearly broke but still rich with ambition, Marshall moved to Los Angeles, where he met the comedian Tommy Noonan. The two became friends and formed a comedy team called Noonan & Marshall. They performed live and appeared in a few films in the early 1950s. A big break came when they were booked on "The Ed Sullivan Show." They appeared on "Sullivan" several times.

Marshall branched off on his own, mainly as a working movie actor and in stage productions like, "Bye Bye Birdie," in London. He was in the Warner Bros. sequel to "Mister Roberts" titled, "Ensign Pulver," and in 1965, he gave a fine performance as an officer trapped underground with a group of allied and enemy troops in the World War II drama, "The Cavern."

The following year would change his life forever. NBC was set to launch a new game show called, "The Hollywood Squares," but didn't have an emcee. In one story, a network executive saw Marshall's photo on top of a pile of publicity materials, liked what he saw, and asked him to come in to test. In another story, comic Morey Amsterdam recommended Marshall to Bert Parks for the role.

"I don't think either of those versions is true," Marshall said with a laugh. "The fact is, they wanted a complete non-entity, someone who could come into the role and pull it off with some humor and spirited chatter, but who wasn't already known as a game show host. And for that, I was ideal. I'd done a lot of theatre and film and comedy, but my face wasn't known to the general public."

It sure became known by the time the show concluded its enormously successful 15-year run. During that time, Marshall all but ceased his career as an actor. After "Squares," he returned to singing and performed in Big Band packages, with Harry James' and Les Brown's bands.
If you are a “Squares” fan or a Peter Marshall, now is your chance to win big and give him a call.

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