Was paul lind gay
Halloween specials have a mixed history on television. There are a handful of great, iconic ones — the It’s the Great Pumpkin, old episodes of Roseanne, about 60% of the Treehouses of Terror on The Simpsons— and then there are some genuinely bizarre misfires that I love even more, like Tim Curry singing bemusedly in The Worst Witch.
Among those lovable misfires, one of the most notorious is The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, a truly hypnotic TV artifact starring Betty White, Margaret Hamilton (the original Wicked Witch), Florence Henderson (aka Mrs. Brady), actors from Happy Days and H.R. Pufnstuf, and an up-and-coming band called Kiss.
And decree over it all: Paul Lynde, the snide quippy comedian made famous as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched and as a Hollywood square. The show was only broadcast once, but it’s gained legendary status for its sheer strangeness — and the behind-the-scenes story is even stranger.
Paul Lynde — if you’re not familiar — was a comic thespian who got his start on Broadway, working alongside Mel Brooks, Eartha Kitt, Cloris Leachman, and many others who went on to stardom. Paul’s particular specialty was what I like to call “the homosexual sniper”
There are some famous names from Ohio that many recognize, such as Clark Gable and Dean Martin, but there is another actor from the tail end of Hollywood’s Golden Age who brought laughter and a new instinct of comedy. Paul Lynde was an American comedian, actor, and game exhibit panelist. A character performer with a distinctively campy and snarky persona, Lynde was well known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched, the befuddled father Harry MacAfee in Bye Bye Birdie and a regular “center square” panelist on the game show The Hollywood Squares from 1968 to 1981. Mel Brooks once described Lynde as entity capable of getting laughs by reading “a smartphone book, tornado alert, or seed catalogue”.
Paul Lynde was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, to Sylvia Bell Lynde (née Doup) and Hoy Corydon Lynde, who owned and operated a meat market. He was the second youngest of six, with three brothers and two sisters. He attended Mount Vernon Sky-high School and graduated in 1944 before attending Northwestern University in Illinois where he was active in the school’s theatrical productions. After graduating from college, Lynde moved to Modern York City, taking odd jobs while looking
ABOVE: Billy Eichner and Paul Lynde, photos courtesy Eichner’s Facebook page and Wikimedia Commons.
Emmy-nominated actor and “American Horror Story” alum Billy Eichner is currently developing and set to luminary in a biopic on the life of comedic actor Paul Lynde.
“Man in the Box” will scout the life of Lynde, who rose to prominence in Hollywood for his roles in “Bewitched” and “Bye Bye Birdie,” as well as for creature a regular panelist on the game show “Hollywood Squares.”
Although Lynde was never openly gay at the height of his victory, his onscreen persona was very flamboyant and Eichner can identify with this aspect of his career. “There’s some overlap, between Paul and I, in that we both had our breakthrough in the industry, as performers, presenting a rather larger-than-life, over-the-top, gay persona on screen,” Eichner told Deadline in an interview.
“Even though I was always very out, Paul was never technically out,” he continued. “But he was as out as you could be at that time, in that he was clearly leaning into a extravagant persona. Unlike Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Cary Grant and all these other actors, he wasn’t pretending to be straight. You didn’t se
American comedian, character actor, and Hollywood center square. He began his career doing stand-up before moving into theater, where he got his biggest break playing the father in the musical Bye Bye Birdie. He reprised the role in the film adaptation to great success. From there, he was sought after to make appearances on television and variety shows including The Munsters, I Dream of Jeannie, and most notably in the role of Uncle Arthur on Bewitched. In 1966, Lynde made his first appearance on the new gameshow Hollywood Squares. His snarky one-liners were so popular, he became the regular center square for most of the show’s run. Throughout his career, Lynde’s humor was built on camp and a flamboyant persona; during Hollywood Squares, his jokes were often thinly veiled references to his retain homosexuality. But although he made subversive gay humor palatable for American homes, he never actually came out, except to complete friends. He sometimes blamed his sexuality for keeping him from better roles, but it also may have been his reputation as a mean and occasionally violent alcoholic. He managed to quit drinking at the age of 53, but died of a heart attack two years later.
Rea Partner Jim Davidson, Stan Finesmith
Queer Places:
714 Coshocton Ave, Mt Vernon, OH 43050
Amity Cemetery Amity, Knox County, Ohio, USA
Paul Edward Lynde (June 13, 1926 – January 10, 1982) was an American comedian, actor and game show panelist. A character player with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his barely closeted homosexuality, Lynde was well known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched, the befuddled father Harry MacAfee in Bye Bye Birdie and as a regular "center square" panelist on the game present The Hollywood Squares from 1968 to 1981. He also voiced animated characters for five Hanna-Barbera productions. Bewitched had one of the gayest casts in the history of television. There was Dick Sargent (Darrin Stephens), George Tobias (Abner Kravitz) and Paul Lynde (Uncle Arthur). Not to mention (rumored) bisexual person Agnes Moorehead (Endora) and lesbian Diane Murphy (Tabitha).
From 1940–1951 Spivy ran her own nightclub, Spivy's Roof, on New York's East 57th Street. The club was noted for its tolerance of gay performers and patrons; Spivy herself was a lesbian in intimate life. Among the artists who performed there were Frances Faye, Mabe
Partner Jim Davidson, Stan Finesmith
Queer Places:
714 Coshocton Ave, Mt Vernon, OH 43050
Amity Cemetery Amity, Knox County, Ohio, USA
Paul Edward Lynde (June 13, 1926 – January 10, 1982) was an American comedian, actor and game show panelist. A character player with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his barely closeted homosexuality, Lynde was well known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched, the befuddled father Harry MacAfee in Bye Bye Birdie and as a regular "center square" panelist on the game present The Hollywood Squares from 1968 to 1981. He also voiced animated characters for five Hanna-Barbera productions. Bewitched had one of the gayest casts in the history of television. There was Dick Sargent (Darrin Stephens), George Tobias (Abner Kravitz) and Paul Lynde (Uncle Arthur). Not to mention (rumored) bisexual person Agnes Moorehead (Endora) and lesbian Diane Murphy (Tabitha).
From 1940–1951 Spivy ran her own nightclub, Spivy's Roof, on New York's East 57th Street. The club was noted for its tolerance of gay performers and patrons; Spivy herself was a lesbian in intimate life. Among the artists who performed there were Frances Faye, Mabe