Last night I attended the La Quinta Arts Foundation Gala event honoring TV mogul Merv Griffin. Held at the swank La Quinta Resort & Club, the exclusive event drew a well-heeled crowd with a penchant for collecting high end art. Merv is honorary chairman of the Arts Festival and has been a major financial supporter of the event here in the Palm Springs area.Merv Griffin is one of the most successful Hollywood entertainers and executives ever, with career on stage singing, and a 23 year run with The Merv Griffin Show where he invented the talk show concept. He made his substantial fortune when he single-handedly created game shows Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, both of which he still owns. As a resident of La Quinta, Merv is a high profile valley resident and brings a great deal of Hollywood power to the Palm Springs area.
Above: At the cocktail reception I had a chance to snap a photo of Merv some friends: (Photo L-R): pianist Frankie Randall, Merv Griffin, Keely Smith, unidentified man, and Jerry Vale. I also saw veteran actor Robert Loggia shortly after I took this photo.
Above & Below: During the champagne reception, I enjoyed viewing the wonderful sampling of art to be featured at the upcoming festival.
Below: Me hamming it up for the cameras.
Below: We enjoyed an elegant three course dinner
Below: ...followed by a performance by Merv Griffin, Frankie Randall, Keely Smith and Kaye Ballard
After dinner Merv opened by telling a few jokes- one of which I felt was worth sharing. It went something like this:
"You know for a time I dated a homeless girl.
Yeah, it was great.
We would go out to a restaurant and have a nice dinner and everything, and the best part was I could drop her off anywhere."
Below: Just for fun: I ran into this woman and just loved her look...a vision in silver
-Rick Rockhill
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