One of the best known hosts from the golden age of television died Wednesday. Art Linkletter was 97. His son-in-law said Linkletter died at his home in Los Angeles.
“Art Linkletter’s House Party’ was one of the longest running shows in broadcasting. It debuted in 1944 on CBS Radio, moved to CBS Television in 1952 and aired through 1969. “People Are Funny” on NBC Radio and then TV ran nearly as long.
Born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada, Art was an abandoned baby whose adoptive parents, the Linkletters, moved to California when he was about seven.
Linkletter began his long broadcasting career at KGB-AM San Diego while still a student at San Diego State University, from which he graduated in 1934. His wife, Lois, whom he married in 1935, survives.
