21 Facts About Art Linkletter

Art Linkletter 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.

Art Linkletter became a naturalized United States citizen in 1942.

Art Linkletter was adopted by Mary and Fulton John Linkletter, an evangelical preacher.

Art Linkletter had previously planned to attend Springfield College, but did not for financial reasons.

Art Linkletter directed radio programs for fairs and expositions in the mid-1930s.

In 1943 Art Linkletter pleaded guilty to falsely claiming US citizenship; he was fined $500 and permitted to apply for citizenship.

Art Linkletter acted in two movies, People Are Funny and Champagne for Caesar.

Art Linkletter declined the opportunity offered by his friend Walt Disney to invest in the Disneyland theme park project, along with building and operating the Disneyland Hotel, due to Art Linkletter's doubts about the park's prospects.

But, out of friendship for Disney, Art Linkletter volunteered his experience as a live program broadcaster to help organize ABC's coverage of the Disneyland opening in 1955 on what was his 43rd birthday.

When Disney asked what he could do to show his gratitude for the broadcast's role in the successful launching of the park, Art Linkletter asked for Disneyland's camera and film concession for its first ten years, a request that was quickly granted.

In 1963, Art Linkletter became the endorser and spokesman for Milton Bradley's The Game of Life.

Art Linkletter was a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.

Art Linkletter received a lifetime achievement Daytime Emmy award in 2003.

Art Linkletter was inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame.

Art Linkletter received honorary degrees from several universities, including his alma mater, San Diego State University; Pepperdine University; and the University of Prince Edward Island.

Art Linkletter received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Lowell Thomas in 1975.

Art Linkletter had one of the longest marriages of any well-known person in America, at nearly 75 years.

Lois Foerster Art Linkletter survived her husband by sixteen months, dying at the age of 95 on October 11,2011.

Art Linkletter claimed that her death was drug-related because she was on, or having a flashback from, an LSD trip.

Son Robert Art Linkletter died in an automobile accident on September 12,1980.

Art Linkletter died on May 26,2010, at age 97 at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California.