Diane Linkletter
Encyclopedia
Diane Linkletter was the daughter and youngest child of popular American
media personality Art Linkletter
, and his wife Lois Foerster. She was 20 years old when she committed suicide in 1969.
. Her death was widely reported in the media at the time, and her father blamed her death on LSD
. Shortly thereafter, Art Linkletter
became a prominent anti-drug campaigner.
However, there is no proof that Linkletter took LSD on the day she died. Evidence suggests that she was a despondent woman and that her death was a suicide
rather than a drug-related accident, though some have proposed her death may have been a murder. Her boyfriend at the time, Edward Durston, was present in Linkletter's apartment when she supposedly plunged to her death; 15 years later, Durston was also accompanying actress Carol Wayne
during her fateful trip to Mexico—during the trip, Wayne was found dead in a shallow bay after a heated argument with Durston. Following Linkletter's death, an investigation was conducted by the Los Angeles Coroner's Office; it was determined that Linkletter died from "multiple traumatic injuries," apparently sustained from the fall, and that she had no drugs in her system at the time of her death.
Diane Linkletter had led a troubled life before any alleged involvement with drugs. In 1965, at the age of 17, she eloped, and her father used his influence to get the marriage annulled.
Linkletter and her father won the 1970 Grammy Award
for Best Spoken Word Recording
for We Love You, Call Collect. The record, which had gone unreleased before Diane's death, was released in November 1969 and sold 275,000 copies in eight weeks. According to Art Linkletter, royalties from the sales went "to combat problems arising from drug abuse."
made a nine-minute film entitled The Diane Linkletter Story
, a fictionalized version of the events surrounding Linkletter's death.
Bobby Darin
wrote and released a single titled "Baby May" in 1969. "The song was inspired by the suicide death of Art Linkletter's daughter. In the record's publicity material Darin said he felt Linkletter could have assumed more responsibility, and the lyric included the line 'Baby May had to pass away to hear her Daddy say I was wrong'."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
media personality Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter
Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio-TV for 19 years...
, and his wife Lois Foerster. She was 20 years old when she committed suicide in 1969.
Biography
Not widely known to the public before she died in 1969, 20-year-old Diane Linkletter jumped out of a window of her high-rise apartment to her death in West Hollywood, CaliforniaWest Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, a city of Los Angeles County, California, was incorporated on November 29, 1984, with a population of 34,399 at the 2010 census. 41% of the city's population is made up of gay men according to a 2002 demographic analysis by Sara Kocher Consulting for the City of West Hollywood...
. Her death was widely reported in the media at the time, and her father blamed her death on LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
. Shortly thereafter, Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter
Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio-TV for 19 years...
became a prominent anti-drug campaigner.
However, there is no proof that Linkletter took LSD on the day she died. Evidence suggests that she was a despondent woman and that her death was a suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
rather than a drug-related accident, though some have proposed her death may have been a murder. Her boyfriend at the time, Edward Durston, was present in Linkletter's apartment when she supposedly plunged to her death; 15 years later, Durston was also accompanying actress Carol Wayne
Carol Wayne
Carol Wayne was an American television and film actress. She was best known for her many appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as the Matinée Lady.-Early life:...
during her fateful trip to Mexico—during the trip, Wayne was found dead in a shallow bay after a heated argument with Durston. Following Linkletter's death, an investigation was conducted by the Los Angeles Coroner's Office; it was determined that Linkletter died from "multiple traumatic injuries," apparently sustained from the fall, and that she had no drugs in her system at the time of her death.
Diane Linkletter had led a troubled life before any alleged involvement with drugs. In 1965, at the age of 17, she eloped, and her father used his influence to get the marriage annulled.
Linkletter and her father won the 1970 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Spoken Word Recording
Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album
The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes:*In 1959 the award was known as Best Performance, Documentary or Spoken Word...
for We Love You, Call Collect. The record, which had gone unreleased before Diane's death, was released in November 1969 and sold 275,000 copies in eight weeks. According to Art Linkletter, royalties from the sales went "to combat problems arising from drug abuse."
In popular culture
On October 5, 1969, the day after Diane Linkletter's death, filmmaker John WatersJohn Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
made a nine-minute film entitled The Diane Linkletter Story
The Diane Linkletter Story
The Diane Linkletter Story is a 16mm short film by Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. filmmaker John Waters starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce and David Lochary....
, a fictionalized version of the events surrounding Linkletter's death.
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
wrote and released a single titled "Baby May" in 1969. "The song was inspired by the suicide death of Art Linkletter's daughter. In the record's publicity material Darin said he felt Linkletter could have assumed more responsibility, and the lyric included the line 'Baby May had to pass away to hear her Daddy say I was wrong'."