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Obit: Jack Linkletter at 70...TV host followed in father Art's footsteps

C

CrankyYankee

Jack Linkletter, who followed in his broadcasting icon father Art's footsteps in the 1950s and became the host of such TV shows as "Hootenanny" and special events as the Miss Universe pageant, has died. He was 70.

Linkletter was an English major at USC in 1958 when he became host of NBC-TV's "Haggis Baggis," a prime-time summer replacement quiz show.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituar...ry?coll=la-news-obituaries&ctrack=1&cset=true
 
He seemed like a fine man. Sorry to hear of his passing. I remember when his sister, Diane, lost her life. There were a couple of times when Jack appeared with his father on "House Party".
 
I know his passing is a loss to the people who were close to him. His death must be especially difficult for his father, Art Linkletter, who is still alive and very active. Art Linkletter appeared a few years ago with Bill Cosby in a revival of "Kid's Say The Darndest Things" (showing clips of the original kids from "Art Linkletter's House Party"). Art Linkletter has been called "the greatest game show host who ever lived." House Party segments provided the inspiration for shows like "Let's Make A Deal" and "To Tell the Truth." His production company and producer-partner were responsible for recognizing how to exploit Groucho's talent (after his movie career with his brother wound down) and created "You Bet Your Life."

Unfortunately, Jack did not inherit his father's talent as a broadcaster. His dad's connections got him exposure at an early age and got him some jobs, but his dad couldn't give Jack the same kind of career he had.

No, he didn't get very far in his father's footsteps but he tried.
 
It's just been in the past year or so that I saw Art Linkletter in an interview on TBN. Normally I don't watch anything on TBN but when I saw he was on there I stopped to see it. He's 95 and still going. Sorry to hear about his son.
 
Jack and Diane Linkletter did work with their dad
during the last season of "House Party," when it
was retitled "The Linkletter Show" about midway
through the 1968-69 season. Jack then joined
Art to co-host "Life With Linkletter" on NBC in
1969-70. This show, as I recall, was more issue-
oriented than "House Party," perhaps due to a
change of mood on Art's part after Diane's death,
and it lasted only about nine months.

Castleman and Podrazik, commenting on Jack's
hosting of "Hootenanny," compared him to Dick
Clark, a host not really in tune with the spirit
of the music (Dick would probably disagree with
the assessment of himself, since he made himself
into a true rock 'n' roll fan).

I also remember that Jack's last show, NBC's
"America Alive!" in 1978, was skewered by the
critics, and he was the only regular who did
not receive critical approbation.

Not long ago on this board we confused him with
another Jack Linkletter, who had recently passed
on, and we learned that the better-known Jack
Linkletter had made a great deal of money investing
in an Australian sheep ranch. At the time, none of
us had any idea that he would pass away so soon.

No, Jack did not become an institution like his dad,
but I remember him as a relaxed presence who was
easy on the eye and ear. Some people just get
luckier than others, I suppose.

At any rate, my condolences to Art and the surviving
members of Jack's family.
 
The Australian sheep ranch was Art's investment originally, although Jack may have gotten a piece of it from his old man. Art was a savvy investor and became quite wealthy.

Diane Linkletter died in 1969 of an apparent suicide. Linkletter claimed her death was due to LSD but the autoposy found no traces of drugs in her system.

Hootenanny was a sham and Jack Linkletter was not an appropriate host. ABC did not allow the show to book Pete Seegar, the Weavers and other folk singers who had been black listed in the 50s (although this was 1963). Because of this, many other folk acts refused to appear on the show, leaving only the commercial folk acts.

Haggis-Baggis had a limited summer run in prime time on NBC before moving to one-year day-time run from New York with Fred Robbins and then Dennis James as hosts.
 
I didn't know that Art originally bought the
sheep ranch, but it doesn't surprise me.
Groucho like to kid Linkletter about his
"bulging stock portfolio."

I also agree that Jack was not the best
choice to host "Hootenanny"; my point was
that, compared to Dick Clark, he was not a
true fan of the music he introduced each week.
But "Hootenanny" might have lasted a little longer
if the folk boom hadn't given way to the British
Invasion in 1964. I have read that the producers
wanted someone to sit in the back of the auditorium
of the college campus where the show originated that
week and simply introduce the acts, Ed Sullivan-style,
and that some would start singing before Linkletter
finished. I've also read that it didn't seem to bother
him that "commercial acts" such as the New Christy
Minstrels and the Chad Mitchell Trio were virtual regulars
on the show, while true folkies like Pete Seeger and the
Weavers were banned and people like Bob Dylan showed
their support for those kept off the show by refusing to
appear themselves.

We should mention three other short-lived shows
he did: "On The Go" (CBS, 1959), which traveled
to sights in California and Nevada (the technology
pretty much limited the places the show could go);
"Here's Hollywood" (NBC, 1960-62), which he hosted
for its last few months and on which he visited the
homes of the stars (usually minor ones; once he
interviewed James Mitchell, later known as Palmer
Cortlandt on "All My Children"); and "The Rebus Game"
(ABC, 1965), a forerunner of "Pictionary" and "Win,
Lose Or Draw."
 
I remember "Here's Hollywood." When Jack hosted the program,it was moved from Hollywood to New York for its final episodes and went downhill quickly.

Originally, Dean Miller(from "December Bride") and Helen O'Connell(Jimmy Dorsey's lead female vocalist) co-hosted that show for NBC.

John Guidell produced "House Party" for CBS and Groucho's "You Bet Your Life" for NBC.

Didn't know Jack was that old...My sympathies go with Art and his family.
 
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