5 things you didn't know about Paul Lynde

For over 30 years Paul Lynde was one of the biggest names in comedy. He started his career in the late 1940's as a stand-up and went on to do Broadway, Movies, and television. He was a highly sought after guest on talk, variety, and game shows and appeared in numerous sitcom during the 1960's & 1970's. He was best know though as the wise-cracking, practical-joker uncle on “Bewitched”, center square on “Hollywood Squares”, and Templeton the Rat in “Charlotte's Web”.

The laughter that Paul Lynde gave us was just part of the man. The following are 5 facts that most people didn't know about him:

Was a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity

Paul Lynde joined the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity when he was attending Northwestern University where he was studying drama. Like many fraternal organizations their activities are secretive. According to the official charter the objective of the fraternity is to promote good fellowship and social virtues.

He had some runs with the law

In the mid 1970's Paul Lynde was faced with a couple of failed shows. His drinking was also getting worse by that time and co-workers were starting to complain about being a problem. Despite those problems he was still a weekly guest of “The Donny & Marie Show”. That came to an end for him as well when he was arrested outside of a gay bar in Utah for obstruct an officer in an investigation. It was not the first run in with the law but this latest one cost him that job.

He was a guest weatherman in Ohio

By the late 1970's Paul Lynde's troubles had brought his career to only a trickle of what it use to be just a few years early. So, in 1979 he jumped at the chance to guest host as a weatherman in Toledo, Ohio. The results were one funny weather spot as he would make some of the quips that made him such a hit in the past.

He died from a heart-attack

Paul Lynde died in 1982 at the age of 55. On the surface his death was straight forward that he was discovered in bed where he had a massive heart-attack. Like most celebrity deaths there is some controversy on some of the circumstances leading up to his death. Where drugs & alcohol the cause of the heart-attack? Was he alone at the time? Along with a few other unanswered questions.

He is still influencing people

Over 30 years after his death, Paul Lynde is still influencing people in Hollywood. There are several cartoon artist that do an impression of him for the voice of their characters. One such example is the alien character in the animated series “American Dad”.