Biography for
Paul Lynde More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

13 June 1926, Mount Vernon, Ohio, USA

Date of Death

10 January 1982, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA (cardiac arrest due to extreme substance abuse)

Birth Name

Paul Edward Lynde

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini 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.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Trade Mark

His distinctive laugh after every joke he made on "The Hollywood Squares" (1965).

Trivia

Attended Northwestern University (Evanston, IL).

Posthumously "outed" by Boze Hadleigh, who has written extensively about previously closeted Hollywood actors/actresses.

The coroner who examined his body said he had the heart of an 88-year-old man.

Told his agent shortly before his death that he had given up cigarettes and alcohol.

Long-time "center square" and court jester in residence on the original "The Hollywood Squares" (1965), Paul Lynde's quips on that show are still quoted, and laughed at, to this day.

A fan once set up a museum full of Paul Lynde memorabilia in his home town on Mount Vernon, Ohio

His older brother Cordon died in World War II.

Lynde left "The Hollywood Squares" (1965) in 1979, in a dispute over his salary. When tabloids ran stories claiming he had been fired for his drinking as well as on-set problems, he sued them for libel, seeking $10 million in damages.

Explained his lifelong bachelorhood to fans (in the days before "coming out") by telling them his high-school sweetheart had broken his heart, and he was still too hurt to give other women a chance.

His classmates at Northwestern University included Cloris Leachman, Charlotte Rae, Jeffrey Hunter, Claude Akins, Martha Hyer, Patricia Neal, and Agnes Nixon.

He had a weight problem that he fought to control his entire life.

When he first went to New York, he lived in an apartment building that housed many other struggling actors. The building had communal kitchens, kitchens shared by all the tenants of a floor. One of the other actors in the building claimed that Lynde used to steal his food from the refrigerator. That actor was a young Marlon Brando.

Holds a unique place in show business history - he actually got to sing on "The Ed Sullivan Show" the song he performed nightly in the Broadway musical "Bye Bye Birdie" about the excitement of appearing on the iconic "Ed Sullivan Show".

In "Center Square: The Paul Lynde Story," biographers Steve Wilson and Joe Florenski lay to rest rumors that there was something suspicious about Lynde's death at the age of 55. Dismissing such rumors that the comedian was murdered by a hustler who robbed Lynde's house and left him dead and naked, the authors say that Lynde did die of a heart attack, as the coroner's report contended he did. Lynde expired at almost the same age as his father, who also died from a heart attack. The authors express surprise that Lynde didn't have a heart attack sooner, what with his transgressive lifestyle. Lynde was heavily into alcohol and also used drugs. He claimed to have quit these habits cold-turkey not long before his death, having been transformed by a personal event that he never revealed.

The sign proclaiming Mount Vernon, Ohio, as the birthplace of Paul Lynde was recently changed to read: "Home of Daniel Decatur Emmett, Author of [the song] 'Dixie.'"

Lynde and long-term companion, Bing Davidson were staying at the Drake hotel in San Francisco, California on July 17, 1965. The two went out the next day for a good time and got very drunk. Davidson decided to show Lynde a trick and dangled off the hotel balcony by his fingers. He was slipping and Paul desperately tried to help him in, but Davidson fell to his death. They are buried next to each other in Amity Cemetery in Ohio.

Was an accomplished cook.

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).

His father's name was Hoy Lynde, and his mother's name was Sylvia Bell. He had three brothers: Richard, Cord, and John.

Personal Quotes

Upon telling his family he wanted to go into show business: "My dad hit the roof and I hit the road, simultaneously."

I don't know who the hell Paul Lynde is or why he's funny, and I prefer it to be a mystery to me. An actor shouldn't undergo psychoanalysis, because there are a lot of things you're better off not knowing.

I have so many friends who were lovers. After they got married, it was over.

I'm used to living alone, and I like it that way. You become so selfish living alone...I'd make a terrible husband anyway.

"I don't meet enough women outside show business, and I wouldn't marry anyone in this field." [in 1969]

"Sometimes, I think you're better off not being married today. When you see your married friends split up, it's devastating. Call it scared! Call it an obsession. But I took it for granted I was going to marry a girl I went with for nine years. That is, until I received her wedding invitation." [in 1974]

I was in 'Bye Bye Birdie' on Broadway - played the father. I was in the film version, but they should have retitled it 'Hello, Ann-Margret!' They cut several of my and the other actors' best scenes and shot new ones for her so she could do her teenage-sex-bombshell act.

I had a drag scene in Doris Day's The Glass Bottom Boat (1966). An elegant gown. Actually, it was more expensive than any of the ones Doris had to wear. That day that I came in fully dressed and coiffed, I was the belle of the set! Everybody went wild! Doris came over and looked me up and down and told me, 'Oh, I'd never wear anything that feminine.'

I always wanted to be Anna May Wong. She seemed so much more exotic and exciting than plain ordinary folk. But no-go. I wasn't fated to be Wong, just white.

My body may have been abused, but it certainly hasn't been neglected.

There are three subjects I've learned never to discuss at nudist camps: politics, religion, and tape measures.

You know why Hell's Angels wear leather? Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.

If pregnancies lasted for two years, no child would ever be afraid of the dark.

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