| Birth: | Jun. 13, 1927
Mount Vernon
Knox County
Ohio | | Death: | Jan. 10, 1982
Beverly Hills
Los Angeles County
California | 
Actor. Lynde played Samantha's mischievous Uncle Arthur (the practical joker) on the television show "Bewitched." Comic-Actor-Panelist. Born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Paul Lynde was one of six children of Hoy and Sylvia Lynde. Upon viewing the original “Ben-Hur” film at the tender age of five, little Paul announced he would be a rich and famous actor when he grew up. By the end of his life 50 years later, he was indeed both. Paul Lynde attended Mount Vernon High School, graduating in 1944. Encouraged by his high school drama coach, young Paul enrolled at Northwestern University's Speech and Drama School, where he completed his studies in 1948 as “Best Student Actor of the Year.” After graduation he pursued an actor’s life in New York, surviving four years by waiting tables and selling his own blood for five dollars a pint in order to scrape together the money he needed for food and rent, hoping for a chance at the big time. On Thanksgiving Day 1950, Paul won an amateur talent contest which led to his first New York nightclub gig. Other successful club dates followed, and he was soon cast in “New Faces of 1952”, a hit revue which led to comedy roles in the original stage (and later screen) production of “Bye Bye Birdie.” Besides “Birdie” (with Ann-Margret - 1963), Paul Lynde’s film credits include “New Faces” (with Eartha Kitt - 1954), “Under the Yum Yum Tree” (with Jack Lemmon - 1963), “Son of Flubber” (with Fred Mac Murray - 1963), “Send Me No Flowers” (with Rock Hudson - 1964), “The Glass Bottom Boat” (with Doris Day - 1966), “Charlotte’s Web” (with Debbie Reynolds - 1973), “Rabbit Test” ( with Billy Crystal - 1978), and “The Villain” (with Kirk Douglas - 1979). Television appearances run the gamut from “Bewitched”, “Donny & Marie”, “Love American Style”, “The Munsters”, “The Carol Burnett Show”, and “What’s My Line?”, to his own Special “Paul Lynde Goes Maaad!”, “I’ve Got A Secret”, and - of course - “Hollywood Squares”, where he occupied the center square for nearly a dozen years total, collecting two Emmy Awards for his caustic wit, wisecracking his way to financial independence, gaining international recognition by answering such questions put to him by host Peter Marshall as: “In the ‘Wizard of Oz,’ the lion wanted courage and the tin man wanted a heart. What did the scarecrow want?” Paul: “He wanted the tin man to notice him.” Recorded performances include “New Faces of 1952” (RCA - 1952), “Bye Bye Birdie” (Columbia - 1960), “Zingers From The Hollywood Squares” (Event Records - 1974), and “This is Broadway’s Best” (Columbia CD - 2000). He achieved success as a comedy writer, club performer, director, recording artist, actor on Broadway, in films, television, cartoons and summer stock, and - off the clock - one of Hollywood's finest chefs. About his overloaded schedule he complained, “I can't even get three weeks off to have cosmetic surgery!” Although engaged in ongoing personal struggles in private life, as tabloids and newspapers occasionally reported, Paul Lynde remained appreciated by those in his profession, his personal friends, and legions of fans alike. He was perhaps most famous just for being Paul Lynde. Enigmatic to himself, he opined “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.” The 55 year old actor passed away unexpectedly on January 10, 1982 of a massive heart attack, in his Beverly Hills North Palm Drive home. His body was discovered in the early hours of January 11 by concerned friends, seeking to determine why Paul Lynde had failed to attend a dinner party the night before. Hollywood services were held at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Westwood, California, with interment at Amity Cemetery, Amity, Ohio.
Cause of death: Heart attack
Search Amazon for Paul Lynde | | | Burial:
Amity Cemetery
Knox County
Ohio, USA |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Jan 01, 2001
Find A Grave Memorial# 1598 |
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