BEIJING, Aug. 14 -- Mike Douglas, whose affable personality and singing talent earned him 21 years as a television talk show host, died Friday on his 81st birthday.

He died at 5:30 a.m. in a Palm Beach Gardens (Florida) hospital, his wife Genevieve Douglas said wasn't sure of the cause, but said he had been admitted Thursday.

Douglas became dehydrated on the golf course a few weeks ago and had been treated on and off since. "He was coming along fine, we thought. It was really a shock," she said. "We never anticipated this to happen."

Douglas did about 6,000 shows, most 90 minutes long, and estimated that at its peak the syndicated show was seen in about 230 cities.

Tom Kelly, who co-authored Douglas' memoir, said he had about 30,000 guests appeared on his show over the years.

"One big key to his great success was he had his ego in check,” Kelly said. “He always let the guest have the limelight. He was a fine performer. He could sing, he could do comedy, he did it all, but he always gave the guest the spotlight."

Douglas was among the "early settlers" in daytime talk shows, said Robert Thompson, a professor and director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in New York State.

Tim Brooks, television historian and executive vice president of research for Lifetime Television Network, said Douglas was "an outgrowth on the 1950s mentality of politeness."

Born Michael Delaney Dowd in Chicago on Aug. 11, 1925, Douglas began his career as a teenage singer and entertainer for supper clubs and radio programs.

He was the staff singer at radio station WKY in Oklahoma City before joining the Navy during World War II and serving on a munitions ship.

Returning home, he became a featured performer on the radio and eventual television program, "Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge." Kyser gave him his stage name.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)