Paul Lynde's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Donny and Marie Paul Lynde The Hollywood Squares Center Squa… Perils of Penelope Pitstop Sylvester S… The Hooded … That's Life (1968) Clerk The Paul Lynde Show Paul Simms The Red Buttons Show Regular per… Where's Huddles? Claude Pert… Fractured Flickers Paul Lynde Stanley (1956) Horace Fenton

Main Movie Roles 2005 - Bewitched 1979 - The Villain 1973 - Charlotte's Web 1966 - The Glass Bottom Boat 1965 - Beach Blanket Bingo 1964 - Send Me No Flowers 1963 - Bye Bye Birdie 1963 - Under the Yum Yum Tree

BIOGRAPHY:

Paul Lynde was born in 1926 in Mount Vernon, Ohio (one of six children and the middle of four boys). His father was a local police officer and the sheriff of the Mount Vernon Jail for two years. Lynde got his inspiration to become an actor at the age of four or five after his mother took him to see the original silent film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925). After graduating from Northwestern University, Lynde relocated to New York City where his first break came from being a stand-up comedian at the Number One Fifth Avenue nightclub. Then came an appearance on a Broadway show, "New Faces of 1952".

Lynde also had a two-year run on TV with "The Perry Como Show" (1948) and the Broadway and film versions of Bye Bye Birdie (1963). Throught his life, Lynde appeared in the Broadway plays "The Impossible Years", "Don't Drink the Water", and "Plaza Suite". His many film credits include New Faces (1954), Send Me No Flowers (1964), and Rabbit Test (1978). One of his most memorable roles was a recurring role on "Bewitched" (1964) playing the sneering, sarcastic Uncle Arthur. He appeared on TV's "The Dean Martin Show" (1965), "The Kraft Music Hall" (1967), "Donny and Marie" (1976), and both the prime-time and daytime versions of the game show "The Hollywood Squares" (1965) where he occupied the famous center square. He had two TV series of his own, "The Paul Lynde Show" (1972) and "Temperatures Rising" (1972). Paul Lynde's witty, wisecracking one-liners and his novel line delivery made him one of Hollywood's funniest and best loved entertainers. Paul Lynde died under mysterious circumstances when he was found dead in his bed after possibly suffering a heart attack in January 1982 at age 55. He had been in ill-health for over a year with cancer or some other illness that was never fully revealed to the public before or after his death.


TRIVIA:

• Posthumously "outed" by 'Boze Hadleigh' (qv), who has written extensively about previously closeted Hollywood actors/actresses.
• Told his agent shortly before his death that he had given up cigarettes and alcohol.
• His father's name was Hoy Lynde, and his mother's name was Sylvia Bell. He had three brothers: Richard, Cord, and John.
• The coroner who examined his body said he had the heart of an 88-year-old man.
• Portrayed Mr. MacAfee in the original Broadway stage version of "Bye Bye Birdie" which opened April 14, 1960 and ran for 607 performances. He reprised the role in the film _Bye Bye Birdie (1963)_ (qv).
• His classmates at Northwestern University included 'Cloris Leachman' (qv), 'Charlotte Rae' (qv), 'Jeffrey Hunter (I)' (qv), 'Claude Akins' (qv), 'Martha Hyer' (qv), 'Patricia Neal' (qv), and 'Agnes Nixon' (qv).
• Attended Northwestern University (Evanston, IL).
• A fan once set up a museum full of Paul Lynde memorabilia in his home town on Mount Vernon, Ohio