Blonde movie star Doris Day saw Merv Griffin in Las Vegas, and, impressed, arranged a screen test for him at Warner Bros. Merv got a contract and co-starred with Kathryn Grayson in the 1953 film, “So This Is Love.”
Although Griffin’s career as a movie star was short-lived, San Mateans were proud when the film opened at the Baywood Theater. Griffin remembers that “There was a big party at the Villa Chartier. Everybody was having a wonderful time reminiscing about the old days at San Mateo High School.”
Griffin, who had been on an exhausting publicity tour of the United States with co-star Grayson, told me that he was so tired he eventually slipped out the back door of the Villa and went to sleep.
…to be continued…