Art Linkletter

Art Linkletter
Linkletter in a promotional photo for People Are Funny in 1957
Born	Arthur Kelly (1912-07-17)July 17, 1912 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died	May 26, 2010(2010-05-26) (aged 97) Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Radio/television personality
Years active	1933–2010
Spouse(s)	Lois Foerster (m. 1935–2010; his death, 5 children)
Children	Jack Linkletter (1937–2007) Dawn (born 1939) Robert (1944–1980) Sharon (born 1946) Diane Linkletter (1948–1969)
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Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter (born Arthur Gordon Kelly, or Gordon Arthur Kelley (sources differ), July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010) was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio and TV for 19 years.

Linkletter was famous for interviewing children on House Party and Kids Say the Darndest Things, which led to a series of books quoting children. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1942.

Linkletter was born Arthur Gordon Kelly in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In his autobiography, Confessions of a Happy Man (1960), he revealed that he had no contact with his natural parents or his sister or two brothers since he was abandoned when only a few weeks old. He was adopted by Mary (née Metzler) and Fulton John Linkletter, an evangelical preacher.

When he was five, his family moved to San Diego, California, where he graduated from San Diego High School at age 16. During the early years of the Great Depression, he rode trains around the country doing odd jobs and meeting a wide variety of people. In 1934, he earned a bachelor's degree in teaching from San Diego State Teachers College (now San Diego State University), where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. While attending San Diego State, he played for the basketball team and was a member of the swimming team. He had previously planned to attend Springfield College, but did not, for financial reasons.