Art Linkletter

Arthur Gordon Linkletter (born Gordon Arthur Kelly or Arthur Gordon Kelly; 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, which aired on NBC radio and television for 19 years. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1942. Old clips from Linkletter's House Party program were later featured as segments on the first incarnation of Kids Say the Darndest Things. A series of books followed which contained the humorous comments made on-air by children. He appeared in four films. Early life Linkletter was born 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.