RIP Art Linkletter, 97

[Wayback]

Just heard on radio that Art Linkletter died.  He is survived by his wife, Lois Foerster. The two were married from 1935 until Art's death, making their marriage the longest in Hollywood history.  In the '50s-60s he hosted the popular CBS shows House Party and People Are Funny.  In 1955, on his birthday (7/17), he presided over the grand opening of Disneyland.  In 2005, at Disneyland's 50th anniv celebration, he was honored as a Disney Legend.
http://www.zimbio.com/Art+Linkletter/articles/hItUwX4CPyI/Art+Linkletter+Dies+at+97

[RGMike]

Just heard on radio that he had died (thought he passed away years ago):

my thoughts exactly! One for the I-thought-he-was-already-dead file.  a *HUGE* TV star in his day, somebody my grandma loved. And sadly he became a right-winger, esp after his daughter's death (accident? suicide?) which he said was caused by LSD (I never knew that the autopsy showed no trace of the drug!). He went on an anti-"drug songs" crusade, said all Beatle songs should be banned because, y'know, ALL OF THEM are about drugs. And more recently was part of some wacky Repug "alternative" to AARP, which of course is run by Commies.

[RGMike]

A lengthier obit from the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/arts/27linkletter.html

in fairness, he did come out in favor of pot in the 1970s.

[Wayback]

Some clips of kids saying the darndest things:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCHIM-bGiTI

[princessofcairo]

The two were married from 1935 until Art's death, making their marriage the longest in Hollywood history. 

One of the longest in any history, I'd say!

[RGMike]

Just heard on radio that he had died (thought he passed away years ago):

my thoughts exactly! One for the I-thought-he-was-already-dead file.  a *HUGE* TV star in his day, somebody my grandma loved. And sadly he became a right-winger, esp after his daughter's death (accident? suicide?) which he said was caused by LSD (I never knew that the autopsy showed no trace of the drug!). He went on an anti-"drug songs" crusade, said all Beatle songs should be banned because, y'know, ALL OF THEM are about drugs. And more recently was part of some wacky Repug "alternative" to AARP, which of course is run by Commies.

Found this in the comments section of a Dick Cavett remembrance of Linkletter in the NYT.  Quite interesting:

I appeared on "House Party" at the age of 5, and as a precocious black kid, I was intrigued by the television production process. I didn't realize that those kids who said the darndest things were most often coached or given punchlines for Art to work into his interviews. The joke I was given was about wanting to marry Zsa Zsa Gabor (ah, the 50's) and someone like my mother to cook. Seeing an opportunity to improve upon the material provided, I came up with the following:

Art: So I hear that you want to have two wives?
Me: Yes, I want to marry Zsa Zsa Gabor and someone like my mother.
Art: Why is that?
Me: I want a woman like my mother to kiss and Zsa Zsa Gabor to cook.

There was stunned silence from Art, the studio audience went wild (?) and the camera operator smiled and gave me a big thumbs up. I was immediately smitten with show business. Unfortunately, the production staff didn't share my career optimism. Instead of the advertised Lionel model train set, the parting gift I received was a Kiwi shoe shine kit. My mother, a force to be reckoned with, went down to visit the executives at Studio City and returned with an apology, the train set and a complimentary musical teddy bear. I kept the shoe shine kit, but only for personal use.

When Art's daughter Diane leapt out her high rise kitchen window into eternity, I was struck by how much he and his friend Danny Thomas used the incident to decry the use of LSD. There was little evidence that drugs were involved in the case, but he was steadfast in his belief. I have somehow always believed that the sad confusion on his part regarding his daughters death mitigated the mixed emotions I felt surrounding my first television appearance. There are fewer of us left to remember him, but his mark on my life remains to this day.