Ralph Pierre LaCock (born March 30, 1926), better known by his stage name Peter Marshall, is an American former game show host, television and radio personality, singer, and actor. He was the original host of The Hollywood Squares from 1966 to 1981 and has almost fifty television, movie, and Broadway credits. Marshall was given his stage name by John Robert Powers. Powers had chosen the last name Marshall for Peter's sister (who later chose to use Joanne Dru instead), and Peter adopted it early in his career and paired it with an anglicized version of his middle name. Early life Marshall was born Ralph Pierre LaCock on March 30, 1926, to Ralph and Jean LaCock, a show business family, in Huntington, West Virginia. Following his father's suicide when Marshall was ten, he moved to New York City to be with his mother, a costume designer. After he graduated from high school, he was drafted into the Army in 1944 and stationed in Italy. He was originally in the artillery, but was recruited to be a disc jockey at a radio station in Naples. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of staff sergeant. His elder sister Joan became the film and television actress known as Joanne Dru. She was best known for her roles in such films as Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and All the King's Men. Early career In the 1950s, Marshall earned his living as part of a comedy act with Tommy Noonan, and they appeared in night clubs, on television variety shows, and in films including Starlift (1951), The Rookie (1959) and Swingin' Along (1962). (Noonan and Marshall were related by marriage; Noonan's half-brother John Ireland was married to Marshall's sister Joanne Dru.) Marshall appeared in the 1958 episode "The Big Hoax" of the syndicated television series Harbor Command. In 1963, he appeared as Lucy's brother-in-law, Hughie, in The Lucy Show episode "Lucy's Sister Pays A Visit". Career The Hollywood Squares Although Marshall occasionally worked in film and television, he could not find regular work in the industry until his friend Morey Amsterdam recommended him to fill in for Bert Parks (who emceed the pilot) as the host of the game show The Hollywood Squares in 1966. Though Marshall did not initially want the job, he took it in order to ensure that rival comic Dan Rowan would not get it. Marshall's grudge