DID YOU KNOW .... Television host Art Linkletter passed away May 26 at age 97. Linkletters House Party and People Are Funny shows originated from Hollywood and he was a big celebrity in the 1960s and 70s. He was famous for interviewing children and was the author of Kids Say the Darnedest Things. Art Linkletter, his late daughter Diane, and Bill Holland (kneeling at right) by the "Art Linkletter's House Party" Top Fuel car. John Guedel is in the drivers seat. The occasion was the 1968 Santa Claus Lane Parade down Hollywood Blvd. (photo courtesy Bill Holland) Story from DRO
In a Top Fuel match race here at Firebird, in foothills outside Boise, way back in `68 or early `69 - the "Art Linkletter" dragster competed against Dwight Salisbury in the "Beach Boys" Fueler. I was 8 at the time. Dwight let me and my two brothers sit in his dragster before firing it up. Bill Holland loves to tell the story when they finished their run, at the end of the track, they started heading back to the return road (this was before an official return road had been finished and paved, since the track had only been open a few months) and you had to come back up the track for a couple hundred feet before reaching the return road itself. As the two fuelers were towing back up the track, here comes a Hemi Cuda Super Stock car on a full pull. Bill said it was a real attention getter, but no harm, no foul. Now those were the days! Scott New
Man, I remember watching "House Party" as a kid! Art Linkletter was involved in many business ventures; including oil and gas, real estate, and film well into his early 90s. The man definitely lived a full and rewarding life, no doubt. And he owned a Top Fueler, to boot. How cool is that?
great to hear someone like Art Linkletter had a real life and was a T/Fueler sponsor/owner...kind of like "the rest of the story, huh?... Remember how surprised I was when I saw at the NHRA museum that Robert Stack (TV Elliot Ness in Untouchables) was a Muroc roadster racer in his early years...Another one for the good old days! RIP Art
Watched Art Linkletter show for years. I drag raced from 69 through 73 and never knew he was into drag racing.Losing people like Art and others we looked up to is tough to swallow. The world is a better place because of him.
I am sincerely loving the turn this is taking. Awesome, big respect for a legend in his time. If you have some white in your hair (or lots of skin!) Art Linkletter was a staple. Damn good stuff here.
Digging deep in the archives there, eh Jocko? Back in the day when we only got 3 TV channels (and maybe a local UHF station or two), guys like Art were a real presence in our young lives. Who knew he had this side to him?
Art was a good friend of Walt Disney, and helped Walt out with money when he needed it to complete Disneyland.
Can someone post a picture of that car. I am older than dirt and watched his programming but didn't know his name was on a T/F dragster.
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