Paul Lynde was beloved as the star of “Hollywood Squares,” and from hit shows like “Bewitched” — but the bitter druggie never forgave the world for ignoring him as a “fantastic actor!”
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Paul Lynde was beloved as the star of "Hollywood Squares," and found fame on
hit shows like "Bewitched" — but the bitter druggie never forgave the world for ignoring him as a "fantastic actor!"
2 of 12
Photo credit: Getty Images
That's how Paul described himself, despite having to rely on the small screen after attending drama school with future film stars like
Charlton Heston and
Patricia Neal. He finally broke through on Broadway in 1960's "Bye Bye Birdie" — and almost immediately trashed his career with a sex scandal after the movie was released!
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The closeted star was forced to do some fast-talking in San Francisco when he was in a hotel room with a man who fell to his death. Officially, Paul claimed that 24-year-old actor James Davidson was an old friend who had joined him in San Francisco — and that Davidson was showing off his athletic skills when he tumbled from a ledge of the 8th-floor hotel suite they were sharing in July 1965.
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Film critic Rex Reed would later expose the true depth of the scandal while commenting on Hugh Grant's notorious bust with hooker
Divine Brown in 1995: "Paul Lynde had a naked young man in his hotel room in San Francisco who fell to his death. It was a tremendous scandal that got hushed up. Nobody knew if he was pushed. That's much worse than anything Hugh Grant did."
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Paul was even ready to later speak frankly about Davidson's death. He casually admitted that his first thought when Davidson hit the ground was, "I've just ended my career" — adding that his reputation was only salvaged because two young policemen had mysteriously arrived in time to witness Davidson's fall.
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Paul still had to survive more scandals — once admitting: "If I don't like you and I run into you when I'm drunk, it's dangerous." Employees of his favorite Hollywood restaurant learned that when Paul extinguished his cigarette on the back of the maitre d's hand when the star couldn't be seated in his favorite booth.
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"When Paul got high," said an insider, "he became absolutely vicious. He was a monster." The star was often intoxicated, too, with the pal saying the funnyman would use "anything he could find to relieve his depression — liquor, pills, pot, cocaine."
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But despite his volatile temper, Paul only had one proper Hollywood feud — blasting fellow comic Buddy Hackett, who complained that Paul got credit for jokes written in advance on "Hollywood Squares." Paul insisted, "All the gags are my own," adding that Buddy had been banned from the show for being "so vulgar and so rotten and so mean."
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Paul was still increasingly bitter over his "Hollywood Squares" commitment between 1966 to 1979. When once asked by host Peter Marshall about what would happen if Paul was trapped in quicksand, he replied: "You'd replace me with Charles Nelson Reilly!"
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Alan David, Paul's longtime manager, admitted: "Paul felt that box in the center was like a jail." In a tragic twist, "Hollywood Squares" producer Jay Redak would even write a bitter last message to his longtime pal — when Paul didn't answer the door after he'd shown up with a camera crew to shoot a television pilot.
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"He left a note that said something like, 'This meant a lot to me and you really screwed it up," recalled "Squares" host Peter Marshall. The producer didn't know that Paul was inside the Beverly Hills mansion — dead at the age of 55 from a heart attack.
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The bitter legend had died on January 10, 1982, after announcing that he was giving up drinking just weeks before. Traces of a sex-boosting drug, however, were found in his system. Said an insider who witnessed the autopsy: "Internally, he had the body of an 85-year-old man!"
Paul Lynde was beloved as the star of "Hollywood Squares," and found fame on
hit shows like "Bewitched" — but the bitter druggie never forgave the world for ignoring him as a "fantastic actor!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
That's how Paul described himself, despite having to rely on the small screen after attending drama school with future film stars like
Charlton Heston and
Patricia Neal. He finally broke through on Broadway in 1960's "Bye Bye Birdie" — and almost immediately trashed his career with a sex scandal after the movie was released!
Photo credit: Getty Images
The closeted star was forced to do some fast-talking in San Francisco when he was in a hotel room with a man who fell to his death. Officially, Paul claimed that 24-year-old actor James Davidson was an old friend who had joined him in San Francisco — and that Davidson was showing off his athletic skills when he tumbled from a ledge of the 8th-floor hotel suite they were sharing in July 1965.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Film critic Rex Reed would later expose the true depth of the scandal while commenting on Hugh Grant's notorious bust with hooker
Divine Brown in 1995: "Paul Lynde had a naked young man in his hotel room in San Francisco who fell to his death. It was a tremendous scandal that got hushed up. Nobody knew if he was pushed. That's much worse than anything Hugh Grant did."
Photo credit: Getty Images
Paul was even ready to later speak frankly about Davidson's death. He casually admitted that his first thought when Davidson hit the ground was, "I've just ended my career" — adding that his reputation was only salvaged because two young policemen had mysteriously arrived in time to witness Davidson's fall.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Paul still had to survive more scandals — once admitting: "If I don't like you and I run into you when I'm drunk, it's dangerous." Employees of his favorite Hollywood restaurant learned that when Paul extinguished his cigarette on the back of the maitre d's hand when the star couldn't be seated in his favorite booth.
Photo credit: Getty Images
"When Paul got high," said an insider, "he became absolutely vicious. He was a monster." The star was often intoxicated, too, with the pal saying the funnyman would use "anything he could find to relieve his depression — liquor, pills, pot, cocaine."
Photo credit: Getty Images
But despite his volatile temper, Paul only had one proper Hollywood feud — blasting fellow comic Buddy Hackett, who complained that Paul got credit for jokes written in advance on "Hollywood Squares." Paul insisted, "All the gags are my own," adding that Buddy had been banned from the show for being "so vulgar and so rotten and so mean."
Photo credit: Getty Images
Paul was still increasingly bitter over his "Hollywood Squares" commitment between 1966 to 1979. When once asked by host Peter Marshall about what would happen if Paul was trapped in quicksand, he replied: "You'd replace me with Charles Nelson Reilly!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
Alan David, Paul's longtime manager, admitted: "Paul felt that box in the center was like a jail." In a tragic twist, "Hollywood Squares" producer Jay Redak would even write a bitter last message to his longtime pal — when Paul didn't answer the door after he'd shown up with a camera crew to shoot a television pilot.
Photo credit: Getty Images
"He left a note that said something like, 'This meant a lot to me and you really screwed it up," recalled "Squares" host Peter Marshall. The producer didn't know that Paul was inside the Beverly Hills mansion — dead at the age of 55 from a heart attack.
Photo credit: Getty Images
The bitter legend had died on January 10, 1982, after announcing that he was giving up drinking just weeks before. Traces of a sex-boosting drug, however, were found in his system. Said an insider who witnessed the autopsy: "Internally, he had the body of an 85-year-old man!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
