Peter Marshall (born Ralph Pierre LaCock on March 30, 1930, in Huntington, West Virginia, USA) is an actor, singer and television personality. Although he has almost fifty television, movie and Broadway credits, he is best known as the original host of The Hollywood Squares from 1966 to 1982.

Marshall came from a show business family, moving to New York City at the age of 12 after his father's death to be with his mother, an aspiring costume designer and later the president of the Motion Picture Mothers . His sister was the actress Joanne Dru, who made a number of westerns in the 1950s. His son, Pete Lacock , became a professional baseball player.

Marshall started his career at 15 as a singer with big bands. In the 1950s, Marshall earned his living as part of a comedy act with Tommy Noonan , and they appeared in night clubs and on television variety shows. Although Marshall occassionally worked in film and television, he could not find regular work in the industry until his friend Morey Amsterdam recommended him to Bert Parks to host the game show The Hollywood Squares in 1966. The show had a long run on daytime TV and in syndication, making Marshall as familiar to viewers as the celebrities who appeared on the show. The easy going and unflappable Marshall was a perfect foil for the wicked wit of such panellists as Paul Lynde, Rose Marie and Wally Cox.

After The Hollywood Squares was cancelled, Marshall continued to work on the game shows All Star Blitz , Yahtzee, and 3rd Degree . However, none of these met with the success of Squares. He stayed in television and movies playing character parts. His last film credit was the 1993 film Sista Dansen (The Last Dance), but he continued to work in television after that. He wrote a book about his experience "Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square".

Although The Hollywood Squares is back in production with Whoopi Goldberg as host, the original series of over 5,000 episodes is still shown on the Game Show Network.

As of 2000, Marshall was back on the travelling circuit, this time as a singer with big bands. His website actively promotes his CDs. He is currently married to his third wife, Laurie Stewart, and has four children and two stepchildren from his previous marriages.

External links

Peter Marshall official web site