Updated: July 14, 2022

Paul Lynde
Born in Mount Vernon, Ohio/USA
June 13, 1926

Died: January 10, 1982
(heart attack)

Biography:

Paul Lynde brought sarcasm to 1960's TV like few had seen it before. Born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, the son of local sheriff turned butcher, Hoy Lynde, his acerbic wit always seemed more suited to a big city boy than someone from small-town Ohio. When Lynde's Mount Vernon High School drama teacher, Ruth Domigan Truxall, encouraged him to attend Northwestern University, Lynde found his calling, earning Best Student Actor of the Year" honors upon his graduation in 1948. He also found an ally in fellow student Cloris Leachman who helped encourage the 260-pound Lynde to shed his extra weight. After struggling through his early years looking for acting work in New York City, surviving by waiting tables and selling pints of his blood, he struck gold as one of the new faces in the hit Broadway show New Faces of 1952--among the other Faces were Eartha Kitt and Alice Ghostley. When the show was made into the film New Faces in 1954, Lynde had his first screen role. It was not the last show that Lynde would appear in both on stage and screen, as later Lynde played Harry McAfee in Bye Bye Birdie, both on Broadway and in the film version. He is probably best remembered as the snide Uncle Arthur on the 1960's TV sitcom Bewitched. In 1972, he was given a star turn in The Paul Lynde Show, but the series was canceled after only one season. Late 1970's TV viewers will also remember him as the "center square" on the TV game show The Hollywood Squares. His final screen appearance was as the fittingly named Nervous Elk in the film The Villain. Lynde died of a heart attack in 1982, at the age of only 55.

Filmography

Film

Send Me No Flowers
New Faces
Son of Flubber
How Sweet It Is
Beach Blanket Bingo
Journey Back to Oz (voice)
The Glass Bottom Boat
Charlotte's Web (voice)
Rabbit Test
Under the Yum Yum Tree
The Villain
For Those Who Think Young
Bye Bye Birdie

TV

Stanley
Bewitched
The Pruitts of Southampton
The Jonathan Winters Show
Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers
Gidget Grows Up
The Cattanooga Cats
The Paul Lynde Show
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
Gidget Gets Married
Where's Huddles
Donny and Marie
The Perry Como Show
The Hollywood Squares
Temperatures Rising
The Red Buttons Show

TV Guest Appearances

Henry Fonda and the Family
The Andy Williams Show
The Jack Paar Show
The George Gobel Show
The Lux Show
The Phil Silvers Show
Hallmark Hall of Fame
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Jackie Gleason Show
Burke's Law
The Patty Duke Show
The Jack Benny Show
The Munsters
The Farmer's Daughter
Hollywood Palace
Bob Hope Chrysler Theater
Gidget
That Girl
The Flying Nun
The Mothers-In-Law
That's Life
Kraft Music Hall
The Carol Burnett Show
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
Love, American Style
The Martha Raye Show
The Andy Williams Show
The Arthur Godfrey Show
The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Mike Douglas Show
The Gypsy Rose Lee Show
The Pierre Berton Show
Truth or Consequences
F Troop
The Mothers-In-Law
I Dream of Jeannie
The Beverly Hillbillies
Hey, Landlord

(*) Personnel Note: I grew up watching Paul Lynde on television. He was a talented and gifted man. He was quick whitted and fast with the punch-lines. Paul had a laugh that would bring tears to my eyes. He was one one the last of the real comedians. Thanks Paul for all the laughs, you are truly missed here. The NEW Hollywood Squares center square is empty without you!