Center Square: The Paul Lynde Story

Make 'Em Laugh

2009-03-01T20:39:00.002-05:00

If you like Paul Lynde, you'll want to get your hands on a copy of the companion book for the recent PBS documentary: Make 'Em Laugh. There's a nice write-up about everyone's favorite game show panelist. The show was nice, too.

Dody Goodman

2008-06-23T20:02:00.003-04:00

Dody Goodman has passed away. She co-starred with Paul Lynde in a "Best of New Faces" production in Florida in 1957, among other work, but is best remembered for her appearances on Jack Paar's Tonight Show , Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and the Grease movies. I'm of the generation who first came to appreciate her because of her appearances on Diff'rent Strokes.

On a related note, she also appeared three times for the Kenley Players: Plain and Fancy, with Peter Marshall, My Daughter, Your Son, with Vivian Vance, and George Washington Slept Here, with James Coco.

Paul Lynde, Weatherman

2008-06-22T14:21:00.002-04:00

I've seen lots of rare Paul Lynde video over the years. This is one of the best!

(Thanks to Mary Lou!)

A Festive Halloween Shopping Idea

2007-10-02T05:55:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to buy your copy of the Paul Lynde Halloween Special, which comes out on DVD today! Maybe this'll motivate Sony to release The Paul Lynde Show. Even after years of collecting bootlegs, I'm still a couple of episodes short of having a complete set. Heck, maybe this'll motivate someone to release the first Paul Lynde variety special. I desperately want to see his performance of "Love Will Keep Us Together," which he did with Nancy Walker and the Osmonds! I'm probably the only person in the world who has a bootleg audio version of this landmark moment on his iPod.

Alice Ghostley

2007-09-22T07:55:00.001-04:00

Tony-winning actress Alice Ghostley has died. Like Paul Lynde, she was one of the New Faces of 1952, a frequent guest-star on Bewitched, and even one of the Kenley Players when she appeared with Paul in Stop, Thief, Stop in 1975. Paul and Alice often worked together, as this list illustrates, and were mistaken for siblings almost from the get-go. (As an aside, I always thought she was hilarious on Designing Women.)

Paul Lynde on DVD

2007-07-16T05:40:00.000-04:00

Here's more news about the upcoming release of The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. I've owned a bootleg copy for years, so I have proof when I say this'll make a nice addition to anyone's TV-on-DVD collection. It's an entertaining hour of '70s variety show magic!

More CNR

2007-05-30T18:59:00.000-04:00

Here's a nice appreciation of Charles Nelson Reilly, with a bit of Paul Lynde included.

Charles Nelson Reilly

2007-05-28T08:34:00.000-04:00

Peter Marshall: Oh, Paul, what would we ever do without you?
Paul Lynde: Replace me with Charles Nelson Reilly!

DVD News

2007-05-04T19:34:00.000-04:00

A friend sent word that a special Paul Lynde DVD is coming. I found this on the 'net:

On October 2, we'll be releasing the amazingly bizarre, iconic and entertaining "Paul Lynde Halloween Special" as a single DVD at $14.99! Not only is the resplendent Lynde in fine form in this October 1976 TV special, he's joined by Margaret Hamilton (who dons the entire costume from "The Wizard of Oz" for the only time since the original 1939 release, including the green make-up). She is joined by Witchie Poo (Billie Hayes) from "H.R. Pufnstuf" playing her 'sister', Tom Conway, Donnie and Marie Osmond, Billy Barty, Roz 'Pinkie Tuscadero' Kelly, Betty White, Florence Henderson and as musical guests...KISS, in their first TV appearance! KISS performs 3 songs and the footage of them on stage 'talking' with Lynde is priceless.

Of course, it's "Tim" Conway..."Donny" Osmond...and "Pinky" Tuscadero, but that's OK. It's very exciting news - and a great price!

Stacy Says

2007-03-10T08:54:00.000-05:00

This is nice!

DEAR STACY: The late Paul Lynde was one of the funniest performers ever. He died at a fairly young age, didn't he? When did he die and what was the cause? I've heard different things, such as that he died of AIDS. — Noah J., Westchester, N.Y.

DEAR NOAH: The prolific funnyman of "Hollywood Squares," "Bewitched" and "Bye Bye Birdie" fame was 55 when he was found dead by a friend in his Beverly Hills home in 1982. The coroner ruled his death a heart attack, though his alcoholism certainly contributed to his poor condition. The extensively researched biography "Center Square: The Paul Lynde Story" by Steve Wilson and Joe Florenski has the details of Lynde's death as well as his successful-yet-unhappy life.

Bootleg Files

2006-12-22T15:30:00.000-05:00

Phil Hall at Film Threat has a great article about Paul Lynde's 1977 Christmas special for ABC: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. I agree with Hall when he says, "For Paul Lynde addicts expecting supersized swish and bile, ''Twas the Night Before Christmas' will disappoint." It's not one of my favorite Lynde credits, but I do love its all-star cast, including the criminally forgotten George Gobel.

(Oddly enough, the same month in which Paul was busy reciting the poem on primetime TV, I was being forced to recite it to every other class in my elementary school. My friend Karen and I both memorized it for a class project, and our teacher asked us to share our talent with the kids from other grades. Three decades on, I'm still pretty good at remembering the words, although admittedly I need an occasional prompt.)

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-07T21:21:00.000-05:00

Paul Lynde & Bob Hope, 1967
Bob Hope Christmas Special: Miracle on the Freeway

Paul's Favorite Co-Star

2006-09-29T06:31:00.000-04:00

Elizabeth Allen, the Tony-nominated actress who played Paul's wife on The Paul Lynde Show and on stage in a number of Kenley Players' productions, has passed away. She was 77.

A Baby!

2006-09-09T18:54:00.000-04:00

Well, here's something you don't see everyday: a picture of Paul Lynde holding a baby & smiling!

From a "Phillips Family" photo collection from webshots.com

Talk Show Host Mike Douglas

2006-08-11T15:58:00.000-04:00

Mike Douglas, the legendary talk show host, has passed away. He's the source of one of my favorite Paul Lynde stories:

Paul Lynde could deliver one-liners that stopped the whole show in its tracks. Paul seemed so harmlessly pleasant, he could get away with anything, and often did. I remember when Rocky Graziano was on the show, talking about his boxing career and looking tough enough to step back into the ring at the sound of the next bell. Paul was the co-host. He sat there listening for a while, hands crossed in his lap, while Rocky described a particularly brutal bout. At the end, he reached over and tapped Rocky playfully on the shoulder, gave him that crocodile grin and sassy wriggle. "Touched you last." For a moment, I didn't know if Rocky was going to laugh or break him in two. Thank goodness everybody else was already rolling in the aisles. Including me.

Paul was a frequent co-host and guest on the daytime talk show, although my only (possibly faulty) memory of the show is of a young Melissa Gilbert singing “If They Could See Me Know.” Both stars were headliners for the Kenley Players, although Douglas only performed once for John Kenley, as the lead in Girl Crazy in 1962.

Kaye Ballard's Book

2006-08-05T23:33:00.000-04:00

When we were doing interviews for the Paul Lynde book, we tried to get Kaye Ballard to answer a few questions because Paul often said that she had motivated him to move to New York after college. She refused because she had a book coming out. To be honest, I really didn't believe her, but I should have! Her book will hit stores next month.

And for those who are wondering just who Kaye Ballard is, I can't think of anything that she's done that is readily available for viewing. Like Paul, so much of her work was in areas that aren't rerun-friendly. Fortunately, according to her website (which I didn't realize existed until now) there may soon be a DVD-release for The Mothers-in-Law, a '60s sitcom in which she starred with Eve Arden. Naturally, Paul appeared as a guest star on one episode, so I can't wait to see it.

Kenley Players (Again)

2006-07-22T22:18:00.000-04:00

In February, I mentioned that I'd been thinking about doing a book about the Kenley Players. For the past six months, I've been doing extensive research on the topic. I spent 5 hours today thumbing through newspapers from 1962 (actual newspapers, not microfilmed copies, which I've long since come to despise, despite a degree in library science) and I have to admit I am amazed at what John Kenley did as a theatrical producer: a dozen shows in as many weeks, summer after summer for nearly 30 years. Wow! Anyway, I've compiled a more updated list of actual Kenley Players productions, including entire seasons that I knew nothing about (1957, 1982-1986, 1995).

An Obscure Obituary

2006-07-22T21:34:00.000-04:00

What this says about me, I don't know, but one of the first pages I check every morning before heading off to work is the obituary section at the New York Times. One reason for this ritual is that I need to know when an Oscar nominee has passed away. (Of course, "need" is probably too strong a word.) Some time ago, I compusively compiled a list of all Oscar nominees, living and dead, which I keep updated in Microsoft Excel. If someone dies, I stop listing them in bold. The most recent update, if you haven't heard, is Jack Warden. (Despite the fact that I clearly had him identified as living, I'd thought he'd long since passed away.)

I also check for names of people who have an association with Paul Lynde, and this small confession leads me to the entire point of my post. I doubt I'll ever come across a more obscure connection to Paul Lynde in the Times obits, but here it is: theater critic Henry Hewes passed away this week. In the 1960 Variety poll of New York first-stringers, the Saturday Review critic cast the sole vote for Paul Lynde for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Either Straight Play or Musical)." Paul was then appearing as Harry MacAfee in "Bye Bye Birdie." Unfortunately for Paul, Robert Morse earned 4 nods and the award.

More Obituaries

2006-07-13T17:46:00.000-04:00

A few Paul Lynde-related obituaries to note:

Red Buttons, the star of the eponymously titled situation comedy on NBC in early 1955 that featured an up-and-coming young comedic actor named Paul Lynde, has passed away. Of course, Buttons is far more famous as an Academy Award winner and member of the original Poisiden Adventure ensemble.
June Allyson passed away last Saturday. In the early '70s, she nixed an opportunity to star as Paul's wife on Paul's own eponymously titled sitcom. She eventually worked with Paul on an occasional episode of Hollywood Squares.
Kasey Rogers, the second Louise Tate on Bewitched, has also passed away. She is preceeded in death by the first and second Darrin Stephens and the first and second Gladys Kravitz. [Update: The first Louise Tate is also with God.]

Jan Murray

2006-07-05T18:05:00.000-04:00

Comedian Jan Murray has passed away at 89. In addition to his countless appearances on Hollywood Squares, Murray worked with Paul Lynde on a couple of Jerry Lewis's TV shows. He did Paul one better by also appearing in a Jerry Lewis film, although it was Which Way to the Front, not one of Jerry's better ones.

Bye Bye Birdie

2006-07-01T20:17:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the good people at CAPA Columbus, Paul Lynde fans in the central Ohio area can see one of his movies on the big screen this month. I had the pleasure of watching Bye Bye Birdie twice in actual movie theaters while promoting the book. (I gave a couple of talks before shows in Cleveland and Pittsburgh.) It's nothing great, but Paul sure is fun to watch!

Another Milestone

2006-06-14T06:01:00.000-04:00

Today's the 50th anniversary of the Broadway opening of New Faces of 1956, the less successful follow-up to the legendary New Faces of 1952. The '56 edition earned Paul Lynde his only directing credit. He realized he wasn't cut out for it and never officially directed anything again.

Paul Lynde's Birthday

2006-06-13T06:25:00.000-04:00

Today would have been Paul Lynde's 80th birthday.

(Thanks Mary Lou for the reminder!)

Donny & Marie on DVD

2006-05-29T10:26:00.000-04:00

The Donny & Marie DVDs should be out soon (August)! Please, please, let them include the infamous Star Wars episode. Paul Lynde telling Chewie to "Get your big ape hands off me!" should be considered essential viewing to anyone interested in TV history.

Richard Dreyfuss

2006-05-11T18:10:00.000-04:00

I came across this observation in Time from Richard Dreyfuss, who plays a gay character in the upcoming disaster remake, Poseiden:

Q&A Richard Dreyfuss
Was it your first gay role? No, I did the Larry Kramer play The Normal Heart. When I was a kid, I did TV shows with ambiguous characters like Bewitched. I thought they were just well dressed.
Time, May 15, 2006

Of course, no one was as well dressed and as ambigious on Bewitched as Paul Lynde. Odd, in a way, that Paul also had a cruise ship movie among his credits, although it's considered a disaster film for reasons that had nothing to do with genre.

Poor Man's Paul Lynde

2006-04-21T05:57:00.000-04:00

If you've read the book, you'll know that one of Paul Lynde's (many) pet-peeves was being mistaken for comedian Alan Sues. I came across this great sentence recently in a review of Sues' co-starring turn with, of all people, the New Christy Minstrels in a Kenley Players production of Good News: "Laugh-In's Alan Sues lives up to his image as a sort of poor man's Paul Lynde."
I can't imagine Sues appreciated that.

Waa-Mu Anniversary

2006-03-21T20:45:00.000-05:00

The 75th anniversary of the famous Waa-Mu shows is coming up. Playbill discusses it here.

While a student at Northwestern in the mid-40's, Paul Lynde was featured in three of the shows. He was frequently paired up with Charlotte Rae--then known as Charlotte Lubotsky--but he also shared the stage with Joe Bova, a fellow Ohioan who recently passed away.

Some of the sketches that Paul wrote for the shows were used years later on his comedy album, Paul Lynde, Recently Released. I still hold out hope that the record will someday appear on CD.

Maureen Stapleton

2006-03-13T17:26:00.000-05:00

Maureen Stapleton, another one of Paul Lynde's co-stars, has passed away. The two of them first worked together on a 1961 CBS special called A Question of Chairs: The Challenge of American Education. (According to the New York Times, the show dramatized "the evolution of the American educational philosophy and development of the public school system." Exciting, no?)

In one of my favorite gossip items about Paul, we learn via the Hollywood Reporter that "Pat Neal and Paul Lynde threw a loud party for Maureen Stapleton, who’s testing for the loud mouth mother in "Birdie.'" Of course, she got the part.

I will always remember her for the TV movie The Electric Grandmother and for being partly responsible for pushing Wally Cox into a career as a nightclub performer.

Surley Squares

2006-03-09T20:25:00.000-05:00

I came across an interesting article today at the library. This is not exactly "news" since it happened during the first year of the Kennedy administration, but it turns out that Paul Lynde wasn't the only regular on Hollywood Squares who could be difficult. In 1961, Cliff Arquette appeared as Charlie Weaver at the Ohio State Fair. According to the Columbus Citizen-Journal, someone at the fair "saw a little crippled child approach Charlie for an autograph but, instead of getting it, he got a sharp 'go away' from Charlie." Say what you will about Paul Lynde; I don't think he could have ever been THAT mean!

Don Knotts, Comic Genius

2006-02-25T19:14:00.000-05:00

Don Knotts has passed away at 81.

Back in the '70s, Knotts appeared occasionally as a panelist on Hollywood Squares, but I wish he and Paul Lynde had worked together elsewhere, specifically The Andy Griffith Show. That sitcom was one of the first pop culture obsessions I had for something that pre-dated my birth. Instead of devoting years to researching Lynde's life and career, I could have just as easily spent that time learning all there is to know about Knotts. He will always be one of my favorites.

John Kenley

2006-02-23T21:08:00.000-05:00

It seems I should have posted the item about the Kenley Players a couple of days sooner. Monday was John Kenley's 100th birthday!

Kenley Players

2006-02-22T19:15:00.000-05:00

I've been toying with the idea of doing a Kenley Players book. If you had the great fortune of seeing one Kenley's legendary summer stock productions -- even one not starring the late, great Paul Lynde -- feel free to post a few details. Hopefully, Vicki Lawrence will wander by & add to what she already discussed in her 1995 autobiography. (Wow! Has it been out that long?)

Grandpa Munster

2006-02-04T15:31:00.000-05:00

Al Lewis, the actor who played Grandpa Munster on The Munsters, has passed away. He was 95.

As Dr. Dudley, the monster family's near-sighted doctor, Paul Lynde appeared three times on the show. Lewis spoke fondly of Paul in my friend Steve Cox's book about the show:

The best Dr. Dudley we had was definitely Paul Lynde. He was a perfect comedian. Fabulous. I don’t care how famous others who played Dudley went on to be.

Maybe TVLand will include one of those episodes if they decide to honor Lewis with some block programming. (It's probably too much to expect that they might dust off Lewis' other classic sitcom, Car 54, Where Are You?)

eBay Mystery

2006-02-02T18:12:00.000-05:00

An eBay mystery...Here's a great picture of an angry-looking Paul Lynde with Ed Asner & Larry Gatlin. The country singer's name does not appear anywhere in the timeline I created while doing research for the book, although, admittedly, I'm a year or two short of a complete listing of Hollywood Squares credits. I assume that's where this picture was taken because it looks like Paul's wearing his famous X's & O's shirt. Hopefully, Paul was nicer to Gatlin than he was when Tanya Tucker played the game!

New Faces

2006-01-29T07:51:00.000-05:00

Steven Suskin, who writes regularly for Playbill and provided a bit of guidance for the book, has posted some comments about New Faces, the film version of Paul's first Broadway success. Always a good read.

Basil Cross

2006-01-18T19:40:00.000-05:00

I received word today that Basil Cross, a long-time friend of Paul Lynde, has passed away.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cross in 2000 when the two of us travelled separately to Mount Vernon, Ohio, to take part in the A&E Biography about Paul. I was able to talk to him briefly in the lobby of the hotel in which the tapings were done, and he graciously allowed me upstairs to watch his interview be taped. (Both of us were videotaped in the same room, but it was rearranged to suggest different locations.)

Cross's stories about Paul's college years were great, and I made sure we interviewed him ourselves when we started the book. I'm grateful that he agreed and that he was as gracious then as before. Paul Lynde certainly was lucky to know him.

Pruitts of Southampton

2006-01-12T19:11:00.000-05:00

For some reason, a lot of TV encyclopedias state that Paul was a cast member of The Pruitts of Southampton, a Phyllis Diller sitcom that aired on ABC during the 1966/67 season. In fact, he only appeared on one episode, as Diller's brother Harvey. An ill-prepared interviewer for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences asks Phyllis about the show and her co-stars here (around 3:00). I think she's shaking her head not because she doesn't want to talk about Paul but because he wasn't a regular on the show. When we talked to her for the book, she said she didn't even remember him showing up as a guest.

Albert & Rosie, Together Again

2006-01-12T16:06:00.000-05:00

Here's some exciting Birdie-related news. Dick Van Dyke is going to appear with Chita Rivera for a couple of performances of her Broadway show.

Simon Says

2006-01-10T19:02:00.000-05:00

Although it's not the gist of his article, Simon Doonan of the New York Observer makes an interesting point about Paul's role as a trailblazer of sorts in what I assume is a regular column of his called Simon Says:

Every time I turn on Logo (the gay channel), I find myself confronted with a discussion program featuring the same group of hard-done-by homosexualists, all complaining about the same issue. The cause of their suffering? Gay bashing? The Christian right? No, these inverts are focused on something far more gruesome: their homo-media invisibility, i.e., the dearth of gay character depictions on TV during the latter part of the last century. Unlike the fabulously privileged straight folk of the world, or so goes the argument, we gays were deprived of the unspecified benefits of "seeing ourselves" represented on TV during our formative years.
Putting aside the fact that this line of thinking is rather insulting to all the poofs and dykes who worked their asses off on TV during the offending period (Paul Lynde, Rip Taylor, Charles Nelson Reilly, Alan Sues, JM J. Bullock, Nancy Kulp, to name almost all of them), I cannot shake the feeling that these well-meaning folk are scraping the barrel in search of victimhood.

The Quintessential Querulous Queer Man

2006-01-07T13:16:00.001-05:00

I'm spending the day filing some of the research about Paul that I've collected over the past couple of months.

Last year, Ken Tucker, an Entertainment Weekly critic, published Kissing Bill O'Reilly, Roasting Miss Piggy, a book of essays about the pop culture he loves and hates. Thankfully, he loves Paul:

Go on the Internet, and you'll find stories about Lynde being fired from Squares for drinking on the job - ye gods, who wouldn't need more than a few belts to work with personalities like Abby Dalton and David Brenner? - and letting loose sodden tirades at the host and audience during tapings. Give the guy a break. Lynde was an endlessly amusing, intelligent man whose sexual persona limited his choices in show biz in a way that's tragic and criminal... He was queer before queer was cool.

I agree, except maybe the part about Abby Dalton.

Lou Rawls, 1935-2006 *

2006-01-06T17:24:00.000-05:00

Lou Rawls passed away today. In 1969, he worked with Paul Lynde on the summer replacement series called Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers, frequently teaming with Paul in a running sketch about the Lone Ranger and Tonto, although they weren't allowed to call themselves that. Paul would call Lou an "Indian person"; Lou would often respond, "Yes, my cowboy friend." Obviously, Rawls did far more important things, both as an artist and philanthropist, but as a Lynde fanatic, I've always loved the fact that their career paths crossed, however briefly.

* or maybe 1933. Sources can't seem to agree...

Horn Tooting

2006-01-05T21:20:00.000-05:00

Just came across a rather nice review from the Midwest Book Review:

Center Square: The Paul Lynde Story is the true biography of Paul Lynde, well-known for his three decades of appearances as a character actor on TV, film, and stage. A popular actor known for his portrayal of a gay persona long before Ellen, Rosie, or "Will & Grace", Lynde dared to sneak doses of slanted wit into American living rooms during a noticeably more straight-laced era than today. In addition to Lynde's boisterous professional life, Center Square offers a glimpse into Lynde's tumultuous personal life, including his struggles with alcohol, his ever-changing love affairs, and his notoriously explosive temper. For all his flash, wealth, triumphs, and weaknesses, Lynde stayed true to himself - certainly a feat in Hollywood. Enthralling from first page to last.

Before the Parade Passes By

2005-12-24T10:01:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical by John Anthony Gilvey. I enjoyed it immensely. Paul merits a mention or two in the short chapter devoted to Bye Bye Birdie. However, Gilvey devotes much more attention and detail to Champion's later works, including Hello, Dolly, Mack & Mabel, and 42nd Street.

Although it only gets mentioned in passing, no pun intended, Champion directed a Debbie Reynolds movie called My Six Loves that I never fail to watch when I see it's going to air. This is the film that Champion made instead of Bye Bye Birdie because he couldn't reach an agreement with Columbia Pictures. The version that George Sidney made as his replacement airs on January 13 at 8 p.m. on Turner Classic Movies. It's probably Paul's best work on film.

Lou Rawls

2005-12-16T18:22:00.000-05:00

Lou Rawls, Paul's co-star on the 1969 edition of Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers, is battling cancer.

Richard Pryor

2005-12-12T19:16:00.000-05:00

Richard Pryor died Saturday. The comedian almost worked with Paul in the mid-70s, in The Shieks of Araby, a Stanley Kramer comedy that never got made. The two were reportedly set to play the heads of the CIA in a cast that would have also included Jonathan Winters, Alan Arkin & Marlon Brando! That would have been something to see.

Chita Rivera

2005-12-12T19:08:00.000-05:00

Chita Rivera, who worked with Paul in Bye Bye Birdie some 45 years ago, opened on Broadway last night in a show called "Chita Rivera - The Dancer's Life."

Xmas Credits

2005-12-08T22:07:00.000-05:00

Usually by this time of the year, I've heard from a couple of Paul Lynde fans who remember his 1977 Christmas special and want to know how to get a copy. (Why can't TVLand repeat lost treasures like that?) This year, I decided to compile a list of every Christmas credit from Paul's extensive body of TV work.

There's some interesting shows on it, including an appearance on That's Life, a short-lived weekly musical comedy starring Robert Morse. It's one of the shows I've watched at the Museum of TV & Radio in New York. Paul's his typically amusing self in it, plus he sings a Xmas song.

As I was looking over my research timeline, it struck me that Paul never did a Christmas episode for The Paul Lynde Show ... unless I'm not remembering those 26 episodes correctly. In some ways, that's a good thing, since his writers would have probably tried to put him in the middle of a hackneyed story involving the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present & Future.

Unexpected Moments

2005-12-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

It looks like the producers of the TVLand special did, in fact, use the footage I helped them find. (See post below.) They also included comments from Jim Lange, host of the Dating Game, and Rose Marie, another legendary Hollywood Square. If I'm not mistaken, they used the cover of our book - or at least the photo of Paul from the cover.

The show was certainly fun to watch, but I bought a TV Guide to read the entire list instead of having to watch the entire week. I'm not a big fan of shows in which would-be celebrities crack wise about pop culture moments from the past...unless they decide to do an all-Paul special. I'd definitely watch that!

The Dating Game

2005-12-01T04:45:00.000-05:00

TVLand & TV Guide have pulled together The 100 Most Unexpected TV Moments, including the 84th most unexpected one:

THE DATING GAME - PAUL LYNDE IS BACHELOR #1.
CONTESTANT: "I'VE JUST GIVEN YOU BACHELOR #2. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH HIM?"
LYNDE: "GO DANCING!" (6/1/68)

This odd episode is mentioned in our book, and I actually helped the producers of the special get their hands on the footage, although I'm not sure if they've actually used any of it since I haven't seen it yet.

A word of thanks to my friend Mary Lou for sending the information my way.

Holiday Reading

2005-11-25T10:31:00.000-05:00

Our Paul Lynde biography is included on this "holiday reading" list. I've only read two of the suggested titles: Center Square, natch, and Holidays on Ice. Fleeting references to Cher appear in both.

Center Square: The Paul Lynde Story

2005-11-24T15:58:00.000-05:00

A slightly altered edition of the Paul Lynde biography is out. Nothing is drastically different, but a few typos were fixed and a link to my website was added.

Steve & I poured over the draft dozens of times, had other people do the same, passed it on to our editor for the same reason, and yet weird things still appeared in the final product. Much to my embarrassment, one of the typos was the misspelling of a friend's last name in the acknowledgments! Actually that's not a typo really, just confusion on my part: my friend has the same last name as one of my favorite actresses, but it's spelled slightly different. For some reason, I always use her spelling.

Even if you don't buy the book, feel free to follow the link to amazon.com and read some of the blistering reviews. Everyone's a critic!

The Scoutmaster!

2005-11-24T15:50:00.000-05:00

Paul's "appearance" as The Scoutmaster on the "Radioactive Man" episode of The Simpsons is included in the 7th season box set, which will be released on December 13. We''ll have to wait awhile for his most recent "appearance"- in a clip from the fictional-but-certainly-believable Paul Lynde - Helen Reddy - Hudson Brothers Easter Special. That'll be on the 15th season box set.

Donny & Marie

2005-11-09T11:22:00.000-05:00

It's not the complete season set of The Paul Lynde Show that I dream about ... but it's still good. A best-of compilation for The Donny & Marie Show is coming to DVD next spring. Since Paul Lynde popped up on every other episode (or so it would seem) there's a good chance he'll be included in some of the material, which, according to this news item from TVShowsonDVD.com, is being selected by Donny himself.

Obituary

2005-11-02T16:56:00.000-05:00

One of Paul's personal assistants has passed away. Details here.

Not So Bewitched

2005-10-29T11:02:00.000-04:00

To follow-up on an earlier post, I finally rented the Bewitched movie. Turns out Steve Carrell plays the "real" Uncle Arthur to guide Will Ferrell back into the arms of Nicole Kidman. I was under the impression, no pun intended, that he played an actor hired to portray Uncle Arthur in the updated TV version of the show.

It's all a little strange, given that Ferrell actually does a better impression of Uncle Arthur earlier in the film and that they show clips of Paul Lynde from the original series. Maybe they should have used computer magic to have Paul interact with Ferrell, like they did when Paula Abdul hung out with Louis Armstrong in a soda commercial. (That's a vague pop culture memory that may or may not be right.)

That said, I was pleased that Nora Ephron took a different approach to the usual movie-remake-of-a-TV-classic, even if it didn't necessarily work in the end.

Steve Martin

2005-10-27T17:18:00.000-04:00

Steve Martin's getting the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor this week. In a write-up about the honor in the Washington Post, another comedian is mentioned:

At another, far more visible table (Martin's, by design, is snugged in the corner, blocked largely from view by a colonnade of some sort) is the famous face of a man who knows the meaning of adoration, who sold affability and aplomb as a product for decades.
"Who is that guy?" Martin is asked, and he is not so vain that he gets anxious when the attention is directed elsewhere.
"Isn't he a quiz show guy? Something on TV. Or maybe a host guy. He's some kind of host."
And though this famous fellow's name can't be conjured, he brings a certain rumble of memory with him and the disclosure that Martin ... knew Paul Lynde!
Now, what about giving Paul Lynde - you know, fabulously funny comedian and center square on "Hollywood Squares" all those years - a prize for American humor. Like Twain, Lynde was funny for a lifetime, unique, brilliant, had cool hair and is now dead. But we didn't come all this way to talk about ghosts, even if Martin did show delight at a reporter's mention of Paul Lynde. Because Martin knows comics. His may be a postmodern stylization, but it's not without its foundation of respect for those who came before.

I can't think of a project that involved the two comedians, aside from Hollywood Squares. It's too bad they never worked together; they'd have been fun to watch.

Bewitched DVD

2005-10-25T16:00:00.000-04:00

The second season boxed set for Bewitched is out today, in B&W and/or colorized versions. Paul Lynde appears in only one of the 38 (!) episodes, but it's a special one, since he plays Uncle Arthur for the first time. The good people at Columbia should consider an Uncle Arthur Special Edition, with all Paul's guest spots. Or better yet: the same company needs to release The Paul Lynde Show - The Complete Series. Fans wouldn't have to buy the inferior bootlegs that are floating around.

(Not so coincidentally, I'm sure, Steve Carrell's turn as Uncle Arthur - in the big screen version of Bewitched - appears on DVD today too.)

Anderson Cooper

2005-10-22T22:30:00.000-04:00

I don't want to add to the ongoing debate about Anderson Cooper's private life. I do, however, offer the following from the August 26, 2002, transcript of CNN Newsnight:

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: You know, as a highly sought-after fill-in anchor, I'm often asked, Anderson, who do you most like to interview? Whose mind would you most like to probe? You know, Peter Jennings and I often discuss this over a warm glass [of] Remy Martin. As you might expect, Peter says Aung Sung Suu Kyi. Me? I say Paul Lynde. Sadly, he's dead. But number two on my list is someone who people just think is dead. It turns out he's not -- Charles Nelson Reilly. Ring a bell?

Summer Stock Royalty

2005-10-22T15:29:00.000-04:00

At my regular site, I just posted two pages of reviews from Paul's heyday as summer stock royalty. He was easily the most popular of all the Kenley Players, which, if you read the list I compiled, includes some pretty amazing names. It's too bad that none of these shows was videotaped (as far as I know). How I'd love to see Paul's performance in Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water (and Betty Hutton in Gypsy ... Jo Anne Worley in Gypsy ... and, to keep a theme going here, Gypsy Rose Lee in Auntie Mame).

This Terrible Business...

2005-10-22T13:53:00.000-04:00

The Oscar-nominated director Norman Jewison has just published his autobiography: This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me.

Jewison directed Send Me No Flowers, the last Doris Day-Rock Hudson comedy, in which Paul Lynde had a supporting role. Jewison wanted "actors who knew how to play a part in a broad, comic way without tipping into idiocy." He got Tony Randall, Hal March, Edward Andrews, and "Paul Lynde as the hysterically funny salesman of cemetery plots. There wasn't a dud in the entire cast."

Paul reportedly liked this film role more than anything he did on screen. Hudson, on the other hand, hated their scene together, which he considered in bad taste. I side with Paul. He's very funny here.

And for what it's worth, The Glass Bottom Boat, the second film Paul made with Doris Day, is on Turner Classic Movies this Monday (10/24) at 2:00 p.m. It includes his famous drag scene!

Blender Approved

2005-10-20T18:32:00.000-04:00

In the November 2005 issue of Blender - my absolute favorite magazine - one of Paul's cinematic masterpieces is included among The 100 Greatest Rock & Roll Movies of All Time. Bye Bye Birdie shows up on the list at #96. Although Paul forever dismissed the screen version of his Broadway hit as "Hello Ann-Margret," Blender reminds us that the sexy Swede was "the Lindsay Lohan of 1963."

[If Paul's part hadn't been re-written for someone of the opposite sex, he'd have popped up at #19: Grease.]

First Post

2005-10-20T18:28:00.000-04:00

Instead of using my typical home page to post news items about Paul Lynde, about whom my friend Steve Wilson & I just published a book, I thought I'd try blogging. It seems like fun.