Growing Up with Art Linkletter

Art Linkletter has died at age 97, news that couldn’t help but set off a wave of nostalgia in this Baby Boomer. His television shows, from “People Are Funny” to “House Party,” always seemed to be playing on our television set when I was a child, all through the 1950s and 1960s.

He had a knack, often underestimated, for highlighting kids, with their ad-libbed reactions and comments. One segment of the show “House Party” featured Linkletter asking children various questions. He once said that the best questions were with ladies over 80 and children because “they’d tell you what they think.”

For a trip back in time, check out this video of “House Party” on YouTube here, recorded in black and white, in Art Linkletter’s television “playroom.” The show’s stage may look amateurish compared to the high tech special effects on today’s television shows but that didn’t distract from Linkletter’s appeal to audiences. One of Linkletter’s lesser known appearances was his wonderful introduction to a children’s movie, “The Snow Queen,” a fact I know only because I have a copy of the movie as well as the original soundtrack recording, starring Sandra Dee as Gerta and Tommy Kirk as Kay.

Linkletter was savvy enough to know that kids’ answers were likely to be humorous, even bordering on risqué. Later, he wrote a book “Kids Say the Darndest Things” that contained some of the best questions and answers from the kids’ segments. The book became a best-seller. A paperback copy still remains on my parents’ bookshelf, although the binding is worn, the pages long yellowed.

There is an old show biz maxim about never working with children and animals. But Linkletter didn’t seem to care about being upstaged by children, being savvy enough to realize how much audiences loved the kids’ comments, however unexpected. Linkletter’s reactions would often have the audience roaring with laughter.

Linkletter made several guest appearances, often doing cameo bits, on several shows. At one time, he was a neighbor of Humphrey Bogart and appeared on a 2003 television show about Bogart. He also was a friend of Walt Disney and had a part in “Walt: The Man Behind the Myth” as well as hosting several Disney shows. He also made guest appearances on everything from the Jack Benny to the Milton Berle show.

Life was not always sunny for Linkletter. He lost three of his children. One of his daughters, Diane, committed suicide in 1969 and a son, Robert, died in a car accident. Another son, Jack, died of cancer at age 70. Before Diane died, Linkletter made a recording with her called “We Love You, Call Collect.” It can be seen here. Focusing on a runaway daughter and featuring the voices of both Art and Diane Linkletter, it was the 1970 Grammy Award-winner for best spoken recording. Linkletter reportedly used the proceeds of that album to combat drug abuse, since he had blamed the loss of his daughter to her use of LSD.

Although Linkletter was often criticized, his popularity was evident in the television ratings for his shows as well as the numbers of people who bought his bestselling book. It has been over 50 years since I first watched Linkletter but his voice was often in the background, whether on one of his television shows or on Saturday mornings, introducing the soundtrack recording of “The Snow Queen” that my sister and I loved so much.

Would his shows be as popular today? Probably not, but I think of him as the adult equivalent of Mr. Rogers for adults, being friendly enough to be anyone’s neighbor during the ’50s and ’60s. He wasn’t big on the drama and bells and whistles that make so many actors, singers and performers grab attention today. His skill was in letting others take the spotlight and simply listening to them as they did.

Sources:

Personal experience
Art Linkletter, Tv Host, Dies at 97, NY Times, May 26, here
TV Host Art Linkletter Dies at 97, Seattle Pi TV Guide, here
YouTube video of House Party here
You video of “We Love You, Call Collect”
IMBD.com