THE DEATH OF "BEWITCHED" ACTOR PAUL LYNDE

Actor Comedian Paul Edward Lynde

Paul Lynde was one of the funniest comedians of all time. I would have to say he was perhaps the first openly gay film/television actor too. Everyone knew he was gay but that never became an issue for Paul. Remember what happened to Ellen Degeneres when she came out? Her career went down the tube...

Paul Lynde's form of comedy was sly, acerbic, sarcastic and his timing was impeccable. And that cackling laugh!!! Just listening to Paul laugh cracked me up. Though I appreciate his humor more as an adult than as kid watching Bewitched. I liked him on Bewitched as he was the comic relief from Darrin and Endora!

For me I will always remember the hilarious Bewitched Episodes with Paul playing "Uncle Arthur". Another generation of TV watchers grew up watching Paul Lynde in the center square on Hollywood Squares. On Squares Paul was the hippest and certainly the most risque. Paul stayed in tune with the younger generations in terms of style and attitude... He never wanted to be stodgy.

Read More about Paul's Career and Filmography

Paul Lynde was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and studied drama at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where his fellow students included Cloris Leachman, Charlotte Rae, Patricia Neal, Jeffrey Hunter and Claude Akins. At Northwestern, he joined the Upsilon chapter of Phi Kappa Sigma and is listed amongst the most famous members of the fraternity. He graduated in 1948 and moved to New York City, where he initially worked as a stand-up comic.

Paul Lynde also played Mr. MacAfee the father of Ann Margret's character in the film Bye Bye Birdie. Some say Paul Lynde's portrayal helped boost Birdie into a smash hit.

Paul Lynde on the set of Bye Bye Birdie

Paul Lynde hated being the center square on Hollywood Squares. He thought he deserved better, and he did. A slowly fading memory now, Lynde is not even a standard subject for comic impressionists. What he needed, and perhaps what he deserved, were a few great roles, either in television or films, something more than playing Uncle Arthur in Bewitched. Center Square, a new biography outlining Lynde’s rise and fall, names many tantalizing, could-have-been projects, including a film never made with Richard Pryor. PopMatters

Sadly Paul Lynde was not a very happy man. Guess that is true with a lot of comedians. He was a huge alcoholic and smoked alot too. Marie Osmond in this clip below called "Sour Grapes" talks about how Paul hated working with kids. Paul also longed to be a dramatic actor and not be so typecast. But one laugh out of Paul would blow a dramatic part to bits.. Check Paul's timing in this bit with Donny Osmond... He is perfect...

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.” Read More

Paul went out and brought a date home and when he didn't appear the next night at a dinner party friends and family discovered that at age 55 Paul suffered a massive heart attack.

Though Paul was a very beloved comedian and had many many friends and admirers he just had a depressed kind of personality.. RIP Uncle Arthur