MOOSE JAW — Mayor James Murdock’s first recollection of Art Linkletter was listening with his family to radio clips from the entertainer’s show, House Party, which featured the popular segment “Kids Say the Darndest Things.”
“I was intrigued by the stories,” said Murdock, noting that after listening to the clips on CKCK Radio on their farm, his family later watched the TV program.
After moving to Moose Jaw in the early 1990s, Murdock learned from his father-in-law that Linkletter — birth name, Gordon Arthur Kelly — had been born in The Friendly City, abandoned as a baby and adopted by the Linkletter family. The Linkletters had a shoe business on Fairford Street West, where the police service building now is.
The mayor noted that he and his wife, Bev, talked for more than a decade about doing something to recognize Linkletter’s contributions to entertainment and the fact that he was born here.
So, they approached the city’s heritage advisory committee recently with the idea of installing a plaque to honour the entertainer.
The committee liked the idea and approved the Murdocks’ request to install a commemorative plaque recognizing Art Linkletter — born July 17, 1912, and died May 26, 2010, in Los Angeles — on or near the Moose Jaw Police Service building at 21 Fairford Street West.
The committee will approve the plaque’s final design and work with the police service to determine the exact location, while the Murdocks will pay for the production and installation costs.
A committee report said the plaque would highlight “a lesser-known yet compelling part of Moose Jaw’s history” and honour Linkletter’s early life and his connection to the community.
Furthermore, his work in radio and television helped shape modern entertainment, the report noted, while he was also an author and public speaker who received numerous awards, including an Emmy Award for lifetime achievement.
“That story needs to be told about Art Linkletter because he’s an international entity and he was such a kind individual,” Murdock said. “And I think people just appreciated how he was able to communicate things from a child’s level that entertained and brought joy to people.”
After being elected mayor in the November 2024 municipal election, Murdock recalled that on his first day in his new office, he saw a photograph of Linkletter with businesspeople Paul and Carol Hill. Of note, Linkletter had signed the photo with a heart.
“So, Mr. Linkletter was always proud of the fact he was born in Moose Jaw, Sask., and he would tell that to anyone, because this is where he got his beginning,” Murdock said.
Continuing, the mayor said this is a unique story that could tie into the community’s tourism industry, especially Tourism Moose Jaw’s historic trolley tours. Also, placing a plaque on the police building would be “a little piece of history” for people to read, while it would be near a historic lamp post on Fairford Street West.
Murdock said he presented the idea to the heritage committee as just a “regular person” and not as the mayor, so that this initiative was done correctly. He also noted that the committee could have said no, but didn’t.
“It’s something that (Bev and I) want to do. And people may not care … that this is where Art Linkletter is born. Others may be completely taken aback and say, ‘I did not know that,’” he continued.
Murdock highlighted how Linkletter brought together different age groups, while everyone appreciated his programs and books. The mayor also noted that the entertainer is “a large legend” from The Friendly City.
The mayor added that he expected the committee to install the plaque either this fall or next spring.
