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 (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
Die 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),
Schick mir keine Blumen (1964), and
Ja, lüg' ich denn? (1978). One of his most
memorable roles was a recurring role on
Verliebt in eine Hexe (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 (1975), and
both the prime-time and daytime versions of the game show
The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (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.
