PETER MARSHALL I Had a WONDERFUL TIME

Despite a difficult year, the Hollywood Squares host looks back with gratitude

- Amanda Champagne-Meadows

Peter Marshall arrived for his Hollywood Squares audition in 1966 wearing shorts. “I had been playing golf, and I figured there was no way they were going to hire me for this thing," he a confesses to Closer. "And then I went back to New York because I was going to do Breakfast at Tiffany's [on Broadway].”

Of course, fate had other plans. Peter remained the host of the beloved celebrity tic-tac-toe game show for a whopping 15 years, as well as the master of ceremonies for a nighttime syndicated version, which aired for a decade. “I thought it was going to be a 13-week gig,” recalls Peter, 95, whose calm, unflappable presence proved to be the perfect contrast to the show's offbeat and often hilarious celebrity “squares.” But Hollywood Squares wasn't an immediate success. “In the beginning, we were up against The Dick Van Dyke Show reruns. We languished for maybe nine months,” Peter says. “And then all of a sudden we started growing. The next thing you know, we were a big hit."

Was Hollywood Squares fun to host?

It was so much fun to do. It was not like work at all. We'd do a show, and then we'd break for 15 minutes, and then another show, and then we'd have lunch or dinner. We'd do five shows in five hours. It was really easy for me. I didn't rehearse. I'd just come in and go over the questions. That's all I did.

How did you get along with the show's celebrity regulars?