Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter (born
Gordon Arthur Kelly on
July 17,
1912) was the host of two of the longest-running shows in broadcast history:
House Party, which ran on
CBS TV and Radio for 25 years, and
People Are Funny, which ran on
NBC TV and Radio for 19 years. He was abandoned at an early age in
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and adopted by the Linkletter family. He is an alumnus of
San Diego State University (SDSU) where he was a member of the
Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
Linkletter was famous for interviewing children and has been imitated many times in such shows as
Kids Say the Darndest Things.
Linkletter's 20 year old daughter,
Diane Linkletter, died on
October 4,
1969, by jumping out of her sixth floor kitchen window. Art Linkletter believed that she committed suicide because she was on, or having a flashback from, a
LSD trip. However, toxicology tests done after the incident detected no signs of LSD use and it is quite likely LSD played no part in her suicide. Linkletter speaks out against drugs to prevent children from straying into a drug habit. Linkletter also lost his son Robert in an automobile accident.
Linkletter recently opened the
celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of
Disneyland at the age of 93. He commentated on the opening day celebrations in
1955, and was a good friend of
Walt Disney.
He received a lifetime achievement
Daytime Emmy in 2003, and is currently the spokesman for
USA Next, a conservative alternative to the
AARP.
"Confessions of a Happy Man," Art Linkletter's Own Story (with
Dean Jennings) was published by Random House in 1960. On the first page, he reports that he has had no contact with his real parents, or his sister or two brothers, since the Kellys abandoned him when he was only a few weeks old. He married
Lois Foerster on
November 25,
1935 and they had five children:
Arthur Jack,
Dawn,
Robert,
Sharon, and
Diane. It might be coincidence, but Walt Disney's children, who arrived first, were also named Sharon and Diane.
In recent years, the conservative Republican Linkletter has become a political organizer and a spokesman for the
United Seniors Association.
*
*
The Scarlet Linkletter - Debunking the Diane Linkletter LSD myth*
Timothy Leary vs Art Linkletter - Linkletter confronts Leary on national television*
2006 Linkletter profile
