Another legend gone ... but overcoming some rough spots in his life, making it to 97, dying at home ... you can't beat that.
Art Linkletter Dead at 97: "Art Linkletter, whose People Are Funny and House Party shows entertained millions of TV viewers in the 1950s and '60s and who remained active as a writer and speaker through his ninth decade, died today at age 97. Linkletter was known on TV for his funny interviews with children and..."
In case you're wondering, yes, I remember watching him on the tube (black and white, of course) when I was a young'un. As did the rest of the Baby Boom generation. And yes, kids do say the darnedest things; that part hasn't changed much.
(NBC photo shows Art Linkletter in 1969.)
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From the mailbag, I got a question from a reader wondering why Linkletter changed his name.
Interesting question. Almost all Hollywood types changed their names back then, and sometimes the reason is obvious. I mean, what kind of career would Alfonso D'Abruzzo have if he wasn't Alan Alda? Who ever heard of Marion Morrison (John Wayne) or Mendel Berninger (Milton Berle)?
And Hal Linden, who played Barney Miller some years ago, was originally named Harold Lipschitz. Nice Jewish name, but still ... can you imagine going through life as Harold Lipschitz?
But that wasn't the story with Linkletter. Here it is, according to Wikipedia:
"Linkletter was born Gordon Arthur Kelly in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. In his autobiography, Confessions of a Happy Man (1960), he revealed that he had 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."
I didn't know this.
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