‘Rest in peace, Pete LaCock’s dad.’ Late game show host Peter Marshall had Royals tie

Peter Marshall, the longtime host of the popular TV game show, “Hollywood Squares,” died Thursday from kidney failure at the age of 98.

In the hours following his death, fans reminisced about his sometimes-forgotten special tie to the Kansas City Royals.

“Rest in peace Pete LaCock’s dad,” one fan tweeted Thursday.

LaCock is a former Royals first baseman and outfielder. He played from 1977 to 1980, which included a trip to the 1980 World Series that the Royals lost to the Phillies. He later spent nearly a decade living in Overland Park because it was “a lot more relaxing in Kansas” than his native California, he told The Los Angeles Times in 1990.

Fans remember Marshall wearing a Royals jacket on “Hollywood Squares.” And in 1999 the popular game show host came to Kansas City to emcee a meet-and-greet event LaCock organized featuring Hall of Famers George Brett and Robin Yount.

In 2021 Marshall posted a proud-papa photo of himself with LaCock wearing his Cubs uniform.

“Nice to see so many of you commenting about my son Pete LaCock who played baseball for the Cubs and the Royals. Rest assured, he didn’t get his athletic ability from me!” he wrote.

To which one fan responded: “How did I not know he was your son? My mind is blown!!”

Over the years their relationship would get an occasional “did you know” mention on social media. More are surfacing with news of Marshall’s death.

Marshall was born Ralph Pierre LaCock in Huntington, West Virginia, on March 30, 1926, and took the name Peter Marshall when he started working in show business.

He won five Emmy Awards for his work on “Hollywood Squares.”

He is survived by LaCock and daughters Suzanne Browning and Jaime Dimarco — children from his first marriage — his wife of 35 years, the former Laurie Stewart, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

At public appearances fans often would ask LaCock how his father was getting along, as they did five years during Hall of Fame induction weekend in Cooperstown where LaCock wore his American League championship ring.

LaCock told a newspaper columnist during that visit about spending time on the “Hollywood Squares” set with his dad, which was next to the studio of NBC’s “The Tonight Show.”

“ Johnny Carson would come over sometimes ,” he said. “I loved hanging out and meeting all the guys.”