The Tragic Life of Paul Lynde

pride anger covetousness I can never say that lust gluttony envy and sloth are collectively known as what are the Bill of Rights Something Wicked This Way Comes but it's not witches no it's actually the unseen volatile temper and unfulfilled wishes a Paul Lynde uncle Arthur on bewitched and a Hollywood Squares staple Paul won over viewers with his comedic gifts but throughout much of his life Lynn battled his own demons and often his comrades - the cameras didn't show the conflicted embittered man who thought his passions and skills were being wasted and although after a hard day's work Americans everywhere got to forget about their troubles while giggling at the pure clownish behavior coming from that center square behind the scenes Paul was just as unsettled and lost as his eager viewers I'm your host nostalgic Nick from do you remember and today we're pulling back the curtain on the troubled life of one of America's favorite stars and squares Paul and for all the joy he brought to his work it's very surprising to hear about the conflict that surrounded him off screen if you enjoyed this video be sure to give it a like by hitting the thumbs up and if you don't mind please subscribe to our channel by clicking the subscribe button but just as Paul and always dream let's turn all the attention to him a big boy hiding a big secret as lynn was growing up he suffered from continual weight problems he stated that a salad in his household was either macaroni or Waldorf and by the time he was due to graduate high school Lind weighed 250 pounds it made him feel like there was a spotlight on him but not in the way that he'd one day seek and it was an insecurity that you could sense in his comedy throughout his career Paul's weight was not the only characteristic that he felt he had to minimize and hide Paul was gay but due to working from 1954 to 1982 it was a time when it was neither socially acceptable nor legally recognized in fact up until 1973 homosexuality was officially labeled as a mental defect and Paul was truly fooling no one except for housewives everywhere who continued mailing in love letters by the thousand I mean Paul was similar to Liberace it wasn't hard to get the true sense of who he was if you wanted to see it love to me is something you you would purchase Lynne walked a fine line between embracing who he truly was and hiding the parts that he didn't think would be welcomed all from a world that he so desperately wished to entertain when asked if his audience was women and gays Paul responded quote my following is straight I'm so glad you know gay people did kill Judy Garland but they're not gonna kill me he was able to keep certain relationships under wraps all while making references to his homosexuality on game shows some references less subtle than others studies at the University of Wisconsin show that you'll probably live longer if you love only one man or woman at a time but it is alright to alternate if you watch enough of Paul's delivery you can peer behind Paul's jokes and unearth some deeply rooted constrain truth he wanted people to love him but because of the times sadly he felt they couldn't love the real open him and not procuring a meaningful relationship would haunt him for all his days abusive behavior boy Paul Lynde went after others when he saw fit he had a mixed reputation because of his temper which could be brutal but where did all this anger and violence come from well on top of deep-rooted insecurities Lind also battled substance abuse he was a notorious drinker who ruined relationships because of booze faster than he can make them he also turned to pills cocaine pot all to smother his depression under chemicals and sometimes he would get attention for all the wrong reasons as he was arrested for public intoxication and this happened more times than anyone would care to think Lind was not as unfamiliar with the police as a Hollywood icon should be and he wasn't the only one to experience the setbacks from his drinking those around him got a raw deal to Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall and actress Kay Ballard both stated that Lind when drunk could be downright cruel allegedly this manifested into Lind extinguishing his cigarette on the back of a manager's hand at his favorite Hollywood restaurant his substance abuse turned out to be downright deadly in 1965 Lind played host to a young actor and friend James Davidson in his San Francisco hotel room well late in the morning the 24 year old actor and assumed lover fell to his death the whole thing caused a huge scandal for rent wait wait it didn't somehow even with the event being witnessed by two police officers the whole mess was kept out of the news thus saving Lynn's career he insisted that he and Davidson had just been fooling around when the young actor wished to show off some skill or another and one slip sent him falling to his death in 1977 Lind was involved in another incident this time at his alma mater Northwestern when he was named Grand Marshal for homecoming after the parade he apparently made racist remarks and gestures to an african-american professor Lynde later blamed his behavior on fatigue and inebriation sadly as we've learned boos often turned Paul extremely ugly big dreams but no big screen people fondly remember Paul Lynde for his comedic timing razor sharp wit an enduring career he brought iconic characters to light and was involved in a wide variety of projects from TV shows to plays and even voice acting I like high living but you say tempts me and although Paul did eventually make it to the big screen and some great films somehow it just wasn't what he had always dreamed his path would be after graduating at the top of his class and acting at Northwestern University he proudly moved to New York City to begin the ascent but as with many dreams of stardom it took time Paul struggled waiting tables and selling pints of blood for years before getting a small break when he was chosen for the new faces of 52 the job offers did not cascade him and just like that he was back in the shadows struggling for work Paul's actual big break was nearly a decade away it came way of a small role of originally only nine lines in the stage production of Bye Bye Birdie but Paul was not satisfied on the stage and to be quite honest he wasn't satisfied on the tube either it just wasn't what he was striving for and he was becoming impatient Paul wanted to be a movie star and did everything in his power to become one he went as far as buying a house at the sword slinging Errol Flynn once owned because if he had a moviestar home certainly the jobs would follow Paul stated that it all began when he saw the film Ben Hur afterwards he was obsessed with being rich and famous to Lind leaning into TV shows kept him from that as long as people saw him frequently on the small screen they'd never be awed by him on the big one he wanted the whole movie star experience right down to the aura of mystique and his monumental television success actually inhibited his dreams when desperately wanted people to approach him and ask for autographs according to his close friend Kathy Rudolph Lynn just wanted to step outside a palatial Hollywood home and see the swarms of supporters he felt he deserved Hollywood Center by any means though we celebrate Paul in to this day and respect all of his accomplishments the actor saw everyone else as a threat he hated the idea of being upstaged by anyone or anything he would outright tell Rudolph quote there's nothing worse than me being on stage with kids or a dog because they upstage you and Paul well he wanted to be the center of attention this is the man who was unmatched in comedic chops he is so memorable as uncle Arthur on V which [Music] hard to believe he was only in 11 episodes over six years even so Bea which caused Lynde a lot of grief particularly when he felt other characters got funnier lines than he did even worse than an actor stealing a scene from Paul was when his co-workers failed to properly prepare for the moment you see Paul was a professional and a perfectionist who always knew his line and quite often knew the lines of his counterparts as well Paul's friend Kathy interviewed by Bye Birdie co-star Chita Rivera for this insight into Paul's intense pressure to succeed and she said you know he did get tough with people if they on time or they ruined his timing but she said she never heard more laughter and applause then when Portland was on stage it though everyone else knew he worked comedic magic he apparently didn't and this insecurity leant right into the hands of overly confident comedian Buddy Hackett who had become Lynn's biggest and most public feud in the entertainment world admittedly some of the feud started when Hackett fired the first shots he claimed Lynn was getting credit for joke's on Hollywood Squares that had been written in advance Flynn did finally admit that he and his co panelists were briefed on the question categories before each taping but did reinforce that all his actual zingers were winged on the spot in the later years of Hollywood Squares nearly all of Paul's material was written before him and pinned by writers three Korean acrobats meeting mediocrity what Paul Lin really wanted was to make a truly important film as he put it like the Graduate but fate seemed determined to keep him in TV land and he went along with it in his own private for grudging way and always delivered the most quotable zingers imaginable most people accept laughter during romantic encounter I think they prefer applause Paul soon became to Hollywood Squares what Alex Trebek is to jeopardy he became a permanent fixture on the show practically the wheel in wheel of fortune and eventually he felt incredibly stifled racking up 707 appearances on the gameshow Lynde felt his Square closing in on him he departed the show in 1979 but barely a year later the square suffered so much that they made a deal with Monty Hall no no no I'm sorry not that game show producers offer Paul more money for his quips so he returned this phrase put him on the same level as host Peter Marshall Paul had turned a gameshow gig into an impressive moneymaker filming an entire week's shows in one day for $1,500 however as the years trickled by the disappointment seemed to eat it and more and more the final curtain finally Paul had enough of Paul it decided in 1980 to become sober and drug free sadly the toll to his body was already too severe Paul was only 55 years old when in mid-january in 1982 he didn't turn up to a birthday party that he was supposed to attend to friends at the party were worried I tried calling him then went to his house and banged - no answer finally they broken a side door of Lin's Beverly Hills home inside they discovered Paul Lin dead in bed officially an autopsy declared the cause of death to be a heart attack for a while people were sure someone else had been in the house with Lindh and perhaps they contributed to his death whether or not Paul would have been at peace if he finally had been able to make his own ben-hur or the graduate who never know but somehow I think the unrest of Paul Lynde was inevitable a complicated comedic genius if you enjoyed this video it really would mean the world to us if you gave it a thumbs up and again please subscribe to our channel so that way you won't miss a single video we premiere let us know your favorite Paul Lynde one-liner in the comments below and let's toast to the best damn Center Square in history from all of us at do you remember thanks for watching

Channel: undefined

Views: 755,004

Rating: 4.9123926 out of 5

Keywords: The Tragic Life of Paul Lynde, Paul Lynde, paul lynde hollywood squares, hollywood squares, paul lynde zingers, paul lynde bewitched, paul lynde show, paul lynde snatch game, paul lynde biography, paul lynde full speed ahead, paul lynde, 1970s, 70s, nostalgia, paul lynde episodes, paul lynde death, tv, paul lynde life, paul lynde halloween special, do you remember?, remember, 1960s, 60s, paul lynde quotes, funny, one liners, funniest lines, funniest

Id: KbRkakEIrx4

Length: 11min 23sec (683 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 19 2020