The list of television personalities who have had some success hosting late-night talk shows through the years is pretty short, especially since the concept of a late-night television talk show goes back to May of 1950, when comedian Jerry Lester hosted a program called, “Broadway Open House.” The list of talk show hosts who appeared on an Atlantic City stage is even shorter, with the exception of Merv Griffin, who actually made the city a second home for several years, from 1988 through 1996.
But before and after Griffin arrived on the scene, there were other late-night personalities who visited the city. The multi-talented Steve Allen, credited with creating the format of “The Tonight Show” as we know it today via his tenure as host of the program from 1954 to 1957, made one appearance in Atlantic City, at the Trump Plaza in 1994.
Johnny Carson, host of “The Tonight Show” from 1962 to 1992, made a few appearances at Resorts in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Several personalities who tried and failed to dethrone Carson from his position as the “King of Late Night,” including Joan Rivers, Joey Bishop, Chevy Chase, and Arsenio Hall, also performed in Atlantic City. The only post-Carson talk show hosts who made appearances in Atlantic City were Jimmy Fallon, who appeared as a part of the Water Club’s opening ceremonies in June, 2008; and Conan O’Brien, who performed at the Borgata in September, 2019.
Merv Griffin got into show business as a singer in Freddie Martin’s ultra-sweet band at the end of the swing era, and then played a few minor roles in films as a Warner Brothers contract player. He bounced around daytime television in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a game show host until 1965, when he started in talk show television as host of a syndicated gabfest that lasted until 1969, and in the process won 11 Emmy Awards.
As a result of that success, in 1969, CBS pegged him to go up against Johnny Carson in the 11:30 p.m. late-night slot. Like others before him, Griffin’s show didn’t last. Though it was cancelled, he returned to daytime talk television and became involved in the creation of television game shows including “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy.”
With plenty of cash on hand, Griffin went into the real estate business, with his first big venture being the purchase of the Beverly Hilton hotel in 1987. The next year, he set his sights on what was then called Resorts International, the first hotel/casino to open in Atlantic City. Resorts was struggling at that point due to increased competition, although the company had an interest in developing what would become the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel/Casino.
The deal was complex. Here’s the simplified breakdown:
In 1987, Donald Trump swooped in and bought a controlling interest in Resorts’ stock. Not long after that purchase, he bought up what stock remained.
In 1988, Merv Griffin’s company made a bid for all of Resorts’ stock. The two, big-name players battled it out for two months, making headlines in the process, until a deal was reached. In the end, Griffin got ownership of Resorts and the Resorts property in the Bahamas. Trump got ownership of Resorts’ interest in the Taj Mahal.
There was talk at the time that Griffin’s celebrity would help the troubled hotel/casino. His first order of business was to invest $90 million in Resorts, and to sell the Bahamas property. Although Resorts declared bankruptcy after Griffin’s first year of ownership, he managed to hold onto it, and turn a profit, until he sold it in 1998 for $350 million to a company called Sun International Hotels.
As “Merv Griffin’s Resorts Casino/Hotel,” the 1988-1998 years were fun years for those who worked there, and for Atlantic City visitors who loved to celebrity watch. Griffin, after all, was the first hotel/casino owner in town to actually be in show business, and he understood that, at its heart, the casino business is show business.
Given his background in the big band era, and the fact that he actually was a decent pianist, Griffin had a jazz-oriented house band to back the many celebrities who passed through. Bassist Andy Lalasis, profiled in these pages not long ago, fondly recalled the Griffin days at Resorts.
“Soon after I went over to Resorts from Bally’s Grand, Merv Griffin bought it and I ended up being his bass player,” Lalasis remembered. “Merv loved the music. He was very involved in it. He was nice and he was kind. I played for everyone, from Davy Jones to Robert Goulet and Don Rickles. There wasn’t anybody we didn’t play with.”
One of his show biz innovations were his glitzy, New Year’s Eve galas. Writer John Kosich, who got to know Griffin during the Resorts’ years, described what Griffin put together each year.
“Merv was disappointed back then that there was no real successor to Guy Lombardo’s New Year’s Eve shows,” Kosich wrote. “What he was seeing on television each New Year’s Eve were specials geared more for the Top 40 crowd. In his mind, they were probably out at the clubs anyway. So he decided to begin putting on his own nationally televised New Year’s Eve show from Resorts. He struck a partnership with the other casinos to borrow their headliners for an hour to have them perform, and in turn, he gave his competing casinos, and the city itself, national exposure.”
Long after he sold Resorts, Griffin admitted that the deal he made with Trump to buy the property turned out badly.
“He has basically said that, with the benefit of hindsight, there is no question that he would not do the same deal all over again,” said Thomas E. Gallagher, an attorney for Resorts in 1989.
But those who knew Griffin, and were on the scene during those heady years on the Boardwalk, said he had a ball while he was there.
“My Resorts is really jumping,” Merv said in a 1992 television commercial.
Indeed it was.
Bruce Klauber is the author of four books, an award-winning music journalist, concert and record producer and publicist, producer of the Warner Brothers and Hudson Music “Jazz Legends” film series, and performs both as a drummer and vocalist.
