HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Art Linkletter, a veteran broadcaster who hosted the classic television shows "People Are Funny" and "House Party," has died. He was 97.
Linkletter died Wednesday at his home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles, his son-in-law, Art Hershey, told the Associated Press.
"He lived a long, full, pure life, and the Lord had need for him," Hershey said, noting Linkletter had been ill but wasn’t suffering from any life-threatening disease at the time of his death.
"House Party," one of television’s longest-running variety shows, debuted on radio in 1944 and aired on CBS from 1952 to 1969. It featured the popular segment, "Kids Say the Darndest Things," in which Linkletter interviewed children.
The Canadian-born Linkletter began his broadcasting career with a part-time job at San Diego State College in the early 1930s.
Linkletter is survived by his wife, Lois, whom he married in 1935, and daughters Dawn Griffin and Sharon Linkletter, as well as seven grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
