Entertainer Merv Griffin dead at 82

LOS ANGELES, Aug 12 (Reuters) Merv Griffin, the former talk-show host who became a Hollywood billionaire by investing in real estate and creating the popular game shows ''Jeopardy!'' and ''Wheel of Fortune,'' has died of prostate cancer at age 82, a spokeswoman said today.

Griffin's first success came from singing the 1950 novelty hit ''I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts,'' and he spent 23 years hosting a talk show that bore his name. For years it was the most successful syndicated television program in the United States.

He owned 17 hotels at his peak, according to Rolling Stone magazine, as well as casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Bahamas.

A routine examination this year uncovered a recurrence of prostate cancer, sending Griffin to the hospital in mid-July.

Griffin died of the illness, spokeswoman Marcia Newberger said by e-mail.

Friends and associates described Griffin as a savvy businessman whose good nature and charm masked a fierce determination and toughness.

''I'd rather play ''Jeopardy!'' than live it,'' he said in a statement as he went to the hospital last month, joking in the face of his own tragedy.

Even during his peak years as an entertainer, Griffin was a hard-working businessman whose fortune eventually reached an estimated 1 billion dollars as he acquired luxury hotels and casinos and sold his television production company.

At one point Griffin's own television talk show aired opposite Johnny Carson's ''Tonight Show,'' but it lost the ratings battle and was canceled after two years.

Griffin's producer was Carson's brother, Dick Carson, who summed up the difference between the two men by saying: ''When John wakes up in the morning, he thinks about his monologue. Merv thinks about business.'' Capitalizing on syndication, Griffin created ''Jeopardy'' and ''Wheel of Fortune,'' two long-running fixtures of American television still popular today.

An interest in puzzles dating to his childhood served him well.

He came up with the concept for ''Jeopardy,'' a game show where contestants are given an answer and have to provide the question, in the early 1960s.

Griffin also wrote the familiar ''Jeopardy'' music that was played while contestants pondered their final question. He said it took about 30 minutes to write the song and estimated it earned him more than 80 million dollars in royalties.

REUTERS PD RN2303