I don't remember when I first saw Paul Lynde. And I
don't remember when I became aware of how funny I thought he was.
My first awareness of being a fan is watching the original Hollywood Squares, only
because I wanted to see him. That was over 35 years ago. He
was born on June 13, 1926 & died on January 10, 1982. Like many
others, he left us way too soon.
When I got a part time job, at the mall, after school, I'd try to
take my breaks so I could go to the TV department & watch Hollywood
Squares, again, only to see Paul Lynde.
It was a source of great distress to my father (for obvious reasons)
that his 16 year old daughter was more fanatic about Paul Lynde than she
was about Bobby Sherman, Tommy Roe or even the Beatles. Hollywood
Squares. Dean Martin. Bewitched. Donny & Marie. Whatever show he was going
to be on, I was glued to the set.
In 1974, I saw Paul Lynde in person. He was performing in
"No Hard Feelings". After the performance, I got him to
sign the playbill & had someone take a picture of the two of
us. Of course, I still have these items! Treasures!
I even asked him how Harry (Harry MacAfee, his dog, named for his
character in "Bye, Bye Birdie") was doing. He replied
politely (but with distance) "He's back in ____ (I think he said
Sunnyvale.)" So I can truly claim I had a conversation with
him. Albeit a short one. ;-)
Several years ago, at a class reunion, I reunited with a friend I'd known
for 30 years (since I was 10), but had not seen in 15 years. When
I said I wanted to introduce her to my husband, she said she would love to meet him
& that she'd been worried about me since I had been such a Paul Lynde fan.
I've seen several reports, including the A&E Biography segment on
Paul, that indicate in real life, he was a bitter, obnoxious,
alcoholic. It really saddens me to know that someone who could
give so much enjoyment to others (even 22 years after his death!), lived such an unhappy life. I
only hope the demons that plagued him in life have allowed him peace, in
the after life.
And so you may
ask...why a site devoted to Paul Lynde? There are two purposes
for this site (neither will cure cancer or create or even promote
world peace - BUT...maybe provide a few minutes of fun & laughter
for SOMEONE.) First, I want people to remember Paul & how
funny he was. Second, this will be a place for information,
photos and clips representing his body of work. From college to
cartoons - much of it will (eventually) be here. Quite alot of
his work has been lost to time, since tapes were reused by studios
during the 50's-80's & most people did not have any home recording
equipment. It will be a "blast to the past" for those
of us who were fortunate enough to be around when Paul was alive &
appearing on many shows each week and will serve as a "virtual
museum" for those of you who were too young to remember or were
born after his death.
I used
to have an extensive collection of photos (mostly from magazines) but over the
course of several moves, had pared it down. Many/most of these
photos were the Daily Mirror/Televison World/ScuzRUs type magazines
(that's pretty much all you could get if you were a young teen in the
midwest in the 70's!) but
did include the occasional TV Guide issue as well as the infamous
"People" issue. All of the "scuzzy" magazines
were trashed along the way as I meandered from one coast to the other
& grew into adulthood. They were replaced by press/photo
releases, scripts, etc, that I found along the way. I also used to have
several cassette recordings of the original Hollywood Squares but most
of them have been lost along the way, as well.
(Click here to hear those that were NOT
lost!!!) Ah, well....if I knew
then what I know now, I'd have guarded them as if they were gold.
But ALWAYS with me were...the photo of Paul Lynde and me and the in-person
signature.