Art Linkletter Expert Review by Brian Garvin and Jeff West

Art Linkletter is an icon in television and radio. He hosted two of the longest running broadcasts in the US: “House Party” for 25 years on CBS radio and television, and “People are Funny” for 19 years on NBC radio and television. Art Linkletter is most popular for interviewing children in “Kids Say the Darnedest Things.”

Born as Gordon Arthur Kelly in Canada in 1917, Art Linkletter was abandoned by his family when he was just a few weeks old. His troubled past didn’t stop him from becoming an American icon. He was adopted by an evangelical preacher and his wife then went on to graduate from San Diego State University and start a career in entertainment.

In addition to the shows mentioned above, Art Linkletter was a host at the opening of Disneyland in 1955 and has come back to host several times in the 1990s as well. His show “Kids Say the Darnedest Things” is also a best-selling book. He has also written two autobiographies because he says his life keeps changing. If anyone knows about multiple streams of income, it’s this man.

Art is a master marketer as well, recently speaking on communication and media. Art’s connections with Walt Disney before he was famous and Ronald Reagan before he was President helped him out later. At this recent event, Art mentioned that the best interviews are with those over 75 or under 10 years old because old people don’t care and kids don’t know what they’re saying. And according to him, its all about the conversation.

In addition to the radio/television shows over the years, the books, and being a host at Disneyland several times over, Art Linkletter can also get down to business as well. He has served on the Board of Directors for several large corporations such as MGM, Western Airlines, Kaiser Hospitals, and the French Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease. Art Linkletter is CEO of his own business Linkletter Enterprises.

At Linkletter Enterprises, Art oversees all sorts of operations such as the construction and management of public storage properties and office buildings, cow-calf farms, real estate, Australian cattle and sheep stations, and various oil operations around the world. Talk about diversifying; he was a master at not putting all his eggs in one basket.

Art Linkletter has also made it a point to live a public life. He is famous for being married to the same woman over 70 years. In Hollywood standards, this means that both husband and wife have been married approximately 68 years longer than the average California couple. And though many of Art’s children have passed away, at 96 years old he is still alive and speaking and working. When his daughter died several years ago by jumping from a high balcony, he used that as an opportunity to speak out about the dangers of drug abuse.

Public speaking and civic responsibility has always been important to Art Linkletter. He has served on the President’s National Advisory Council for Drug Abuse Prevention, the President’s Commission on Fitness and Physical Education, and the Presidential Commission to Improve Reading in the United States. Under President Reagan, Art was named Ambassador to Australia and Commissioner General for Australia’s 150th Anniversary Celebration.

Art Linkletter has received numerous awards and accolades including four Emmy nominations and two Emmys. In addition, he has one Grammy and over 10 honorary Doctorate degrees due to his prolific speaking. Art has also received many more rewards that are too many to list in this short space.

So there’s a lesson to learn when studying the life of Art Linkletter: diversify. From radio to television to books to Disneyland, this early entrepreneur never stayed with just one thing. From radio host to CEO, Art Linkletter teaches us about stability, overcoming adversary, and looking to uplift people. Half a century later Art is still going strong. We could all learn from that.