Paul Lynde -- MURDERER?

Rumor has it he was a really angry drunk. So, maybe.

Oh yes, oh yes, they both reached for the ledge, the ledge, oh yes they both reached for the ledge!

Gotta say, the subject line on this one alone made me laugh.

Angry drunks are the worst.

Paul Lynde died of the AIDS and threatened everyone who threatened to expose him, so yes, that's probably what it was about. Lynde would've been one of the first to get it and even back in 1977 they knew about the gay cancer. they said they didn't, but they did.

I'll never forget that inspiration-seeking smile on Hollywood Squares.

Nah, they were fucking up against the balcony. I knew a guy this happened to but he lived. He ended up on a balcony a few floors beneath his own. He was fucked up for awhile though.

We played around. He begged me to take him over the edge. So I did.

Ooopsie!

Paul had the aids so sure, it's possible.

Wasn't there a talked-about but unseen event in the film "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," that is similar to this Lynde/bf situation?

Was he the one who died from poppers overdose

He liked cum in his mouth.

It was the Sir Francis Drake. Boyfriend was James Davidson, July 1965

Lynde was a dangerous monster when he was drunk, which was most of the time.

I let him eat my ripe ass a few times while Kaye Ballard watched.

Sometimes the people we love really do fall to their deaths.

Well, he slayed consistently on "Hollywood Squares".

Shit happens .

Loving this thread.

Hey guys! Who wants pie?

So sad. On camera a real funny, lovable guy. Off camera, a total nightmare.

Richard Dawson was supposedly exactly the same ('cept Dawson was straight)

Is there any dish as to why some people thought it was murder? Of course it happened a million years ago.

Match Game's Gene Rayburn was a misogynistic scumbag.

Rayburn looked like one of Sauron's orcs.

I guess r21 because he was found naked in bed with poppers on the bedside table. Some claim he was murdered by a hustler who also stole things from his house.

Paul Lynde's body was discovered by gay/straight porn star Paul Barresi (better known as John Travolta's one-time lover).

R25 Reason enough to believe there was foul play. Is Barresi still alive?

Paul Lynde died of a heart attack brought on by poppers use.

Why do they I'm gay?

It makes you wonder about Alice Ghostleyl...

Those were the days, fear fucking was all the rage. Most of the out and proud queens were either on stage or in jail.

FULL SPEED AHEAD!

Oh for heaven's sake, who hasn't lost a 'traveling companion' or two? Isn't that what they're for?

She was a regular client of Professional Escorts Ltd. in LA back then......

(and don't ask us how we know)

Oh, for heaven's sake! One little murder and everyone gets all up in arms! Give the guy a break, can't ya?

Go to youtube and look up Paul Lynde. There was a episode of Biography done on him. It fully explains his years of drinking and being a nasty drunk. They said he had the heart of a 80 yr old when he died. All the years of drinking and drugs did a tragic number on him. Also there were a lot of rumours going around at the time of his death about what had been going on in his bedroom and what he was found with.

Well, what was he found with?

Paul Lynde is a role model of so many of DLs Elders

Whenever I am on an airplane and I hear a baby crying, I think of Paul Lynde and smile.

It's hard for a loved one to fall from a balcony in the basement.

Lord knows, I've tried.

"We've narrowed down the identity of Jack's father; it's either one of the seven Black brothers of New Haven, Connecticut - or Paul Lynde, the Center Square."

Paul Lynde is the little red devil with the pitchfork sitting on everyone's shoulder whispering in their ear to do the naughty thing.

When Paul talk me he'd gotten away with it, too, my goodness, we laughed to wake the dead. Well, almost.

TOLD me.

Sorry, I've had too many mimosa-poos this morning.

It is well known that Paul Lynde choked on a ham sandwich.

It just so happened the ham was black and 10" long.

I'd be happy if I died choking on a ham sandwich. A Jon Hamm sandwich, that is.

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A GIDEON BIBLE, ROSE !!

R36 Doesn't say.

[quote]Wally Cox -- SERIAL KILLER?

Rose Marie -- SATANIST?

I can see Rose Marie as one of the coven in "Rosemary's Baby".

"It was the Sir Francis Drake."

Admittedly, our hotel was on SF's Center Square.

[quote] Paul Lynde's body was discovered by gay/straight porn star Paul Barresi (better known as John Travolta's one-time lover).

Did he ever have Roddy McDowall or Richard Chamberlain or other gay cast members of Sherman Brothers musicals?

So no one has pic of the young man who fell?

Hanging on for dear life, Paul is peeling his hands from the rail just out of frame.

r52 In 1965, Lynde was involved in an accident in which a young actor fell to his death from the window of their hotel room in San Francisco's Sir Francis Drake Hotel. The two had been drinking for hours before 24-year-old James "Bing" Davidson slipped and fell eight stories.[

To be fair it's entirely possible that Lynde had nothing whatsoever to do with his fall.

I did a photo shoot in a penthouse in Manhattan once and my assistant and I got there about an hour and a half early to set up. She loved the balcony and went out there to look around (about 20 stories up if memory serves). Before I knew it, she was hanging over the side, even climbing halfway up onto the roof! I went out there and told her to come in but she just laughed at me. I think there's something about heights that just draws people to go to the edge. And she wasn't even drunk! Imagine if she'd had a few drinks in her.

I'm so bored, I could just die!

I was surprised to learn the police had witnessed the fall.

Paul Lynde should have been cast as Mike Brady.

Why is there a pic of the young studly actor, John Ericson, in a discussion about Paul Lynde?

John is still with us at 90. He is shown in this pic with Debbie Reynolds who was the hostess of a pool party he attended with his wife.

He really was something to look at too.

So which of the bios is better -- Wilson's (Center Square) or Rudolph's?

Paul was great in his own sitcom that lasted two years but no one ever saw

Paul Lynde is the malevolent spirit that possesses so many of DLs Elders.

Paul was a mean drunk, with his words, not by being violent. And it's not a rumor, plenty of people have attested to that. He was an alcoholic and couldn't help it, it turned him mean. There's tons of mean drunks, and they're hardly all murderers. The story I heard is the guy was trying to impress Paul by recklessly walking on the ledge or something and he fell.

“What do the gays say” Creeepy

Where was James Caan during all this?

Paul wasn't gay

"Where's my martini" Who remembers that??

I know, r59, I know.....

"Police said Davidson, who was living in San Vicente, Calif., fell from a window ledge after telling a companion to "watch me do a trick." Police saw him hanging from a window ledge, but were unable to reach him before he fell."

I wonder if the poor guy's parents knew what really happened?

Paul Lynde was invited back to Northwestern as parade marshal for homecoming at Northwestern when I was an undergraduate (he was an alumnus). He apparently was drunk the entire weekend, chased all the boys, and ended late one night at the Burger King and called the black gentleman in front of him in line by that well-known offensive term I won't repeat here. Said gentleman, as it turned out, was a tenured, full professor of sociology. LYnde was banned from campus after that--when I was a senior, I was on the committee to choose a commencement speaker for the School of Speech, as it was then known. We were told we could invite anyone we wanted--except Paul Lynde (Charlton Heston ended up being the speaker).

Apparently he agonized as a student over the typecasting as a comic--he loved T.S. Eliot and wanted to be taken seriously, performing "Prufrock," and so forth. His teacher, wise old lesbian Charlotte Lee, told him "Ya gotta play the cards you're dealt" (something she understand, growing up queer in Denver in the early decades of the century). Sad, sad man.

I understand young Bing thought he could just whirlybird off the balcony and take flight.

I miss the days in which men were named Bing.

Mr. Paul Lynde was found *alone* in his bed fully or maybe partially dressed, but appeared to be reaching for telephone on nightstand when he died. Likely he was feeling unwell (massive heart attack coming on), and did what many men do; sat down for a bit, then it hit in earnest. By that time it was too late. Since the alarm went off when Mr. Baresi and others broke into Mr. Lynde's home it is obvious no one else was in the house, and the man died alone.

Official cause of death was given as heart attack, but Mr. Lynde also suffered from emphysema and had been diagnosed with cancer.

ME's report did note a trace amounts of butyl nitrate were found in Mr. Lynde's system, but likely not related to cause of death. Two bottles of "poppers" were found at nightstand; one was full/unopened and the other opened but barely used.

For the record like any self respecting (well off) gay man, Paul Lynde loved to cook and entertain friends at his home.

Unlike Hyacinth Bouquet's candlelight suppers, have a hunch invited guests had a great time.

Yes he did murder his lover/boyfriend/boy toy...

Paul Lynde had AIDS, don't think otherwise..

There is a Bruce Vilanch interview on You Tube where he describes working with Lynde. He said Lynde would stand around outside the studio smoking and attempting to lure in attractive young men who walked by. He then recounts one occasion when Lynde knocked on his hotel door one night and said (doing Lynde's voice) "Come out with me I need to get some dick".

For a time when being gay was taboo, Lynde was notoriously indiscreet. As others have said, the biography documentary stated his heart was wrecked. He smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish. He was a heart attack waiting to happen. But again (as others have said), the unofficial version is it looked as though he had been 'entertaining', snorted too much poppers and suffered a heart attack. Whoever was with him, fled the scene leaving Lynde's body to be discovered. The sad part is, you don't know if the person fled before Lynde had died. Meaning, had he called paramedics he could have been saved.

R77 I have heard that as well, but did Lynde die from HIV/AIDS? Or was it a heart attack? I am guessing that Paul Baressi who is bisexual and the actor Dean Dittman had sex with Lynde. Baressi is more into oral with men, and an S/M top, and sometimes an anal sex top. Dean Dittman died in 1989 and it would not surprise me if it was from HIV/AIDS.

I know someone who when he was younger and desperate for cash and on vacation in Provincetown one summer in the mid 1970s, had sex with Paul Lynde and the large black man Lynde was with.

Just a comment on young people and the stupid things they do ...I was staying at the Hotel Floridian in Tampa with my 1st husband . Our room was on the 17th floor and had a wide window ledge . One night we were partying like rock stars ,drinking and snorting lines ,and for some ungodly reason when we got back to the hotel I took it upon myself to open the window and sit on that damn ledge. My husband screamed and dragged me back in ,and to this day I couldnt tell you what I was thinking. A good thing did come out of it though,we decided (him really) that all that heavy partying had to go . I do remember sitting there looking out though ,still makes my nuts crawl up thinking about it. Paul didnt kill that man,the dude was young and stupid. I oughta know !

ED SULLIVAN!!!

Paul pushed him, I know about these things

Why was he so nasty to his friends? Not to mention his racism.

R83, you really need to ask? Paul Lynde was the definition of a queen and he would give the top cunts of datalounge a run for their money!

R84, Yes in fact when you log into datalounge it should make you do the pledge to Paul Lynde. "I pledge oh master to be as bitchy as thee, as vicious as thee and to honour your memory with vitriol".

Elizabeth Montgomery liked him so much she had them write in Uncle Arthur so are you saying EM is a racist?

Who said EM was racist, since she wasn’t? That is not the point.

Paul Lynde was not funny and had an obvious & huge mean streak. That was obvious to me as a child (Hollywood Squares, uncle on Bewitched).

However, unless it was a really low railing, I doubt Paul Lynde could physically overpower another man over a balcony. Too physically wimpy.

He's disgusting.

Classic Paul Lynde jokes from Hollywood squares:

Q: Paul, in what famous book will you read about a talking ass who wonders why it’s being beaten?

A: I read it, The Joy of Sex.

Q: The Great White is one of the most feared animals. What is the Great White?

A: A sheriff in Alabama.

Q: Paul, can anything bring tears to a chimp’s eyes?

A: Finding out that Tarzan swings both ways!

Q It is the most abused and neglected part of your body — what is it?

A: Mine may be abused but it certainly isn’t neglected!

Q: According to the old song, what’s breaking up that old gang of mine?

A: Anita Byant!

Q: Now listen carefully, Paul…during the time of the hula hoop, the yo-yo, and Davy Crockett hats, who was in the White House?

A: I’ll say the yo-yo!

Q: The Atlantic Ocean is the major body of water on Africa’s west coast. What major body lies off Africa’s east coast?

A: Ex-president Mobutu.

According to the website below Alice Ghostley claims Paul had cancer but kept it a secret and was not drinking or using drugs when he died, how much of this is true I am not sure? Was it cancer, or was it HIV/AIDS as someone else above wrote? Paul Baressi wrote this:

Paul Barresi September 15, 2018 at 8:44 pm Paul Lynde was a man with a heart of gold. He never held contempt for the feelings of others. You had to know him to understand the great human being he truly was. Never judge a book by its cover. It’s too easy to destruct than build. -Paul Barresi

If Paul died in the early days of 1982 and Alice Ghostley had felt Paul had cancer, this would have been based on her opinions of seeing Paul in 1981. Alice likely perceived Paul had cancer due to his appearance. However, back in 1981 'that look' a gay man got wouldn't have been observed in the same way it was just two or three years later.

In addition, I don't think an autopsy in early 1982 would have identified AIDS or HIV as a contributing factor in a deceased persons health prior to death. I ultimately feel Paul Lynde at 55 was a heart attack waiting to happen. However, it does seem very likely he would have had HIV and was maybe moving into AIDS. There are probably quite a few other gay men who were in the public eye, who died prior to about 1983 who had HIV and AIDS and their death was not fully understood.

All of the one liners on HS were written for him. It was all scripted.

Kay Ballard had cut him out of her life towards the end because he was such a mean drunk.

He didn't kill anybody but himself.

True R91 Paul Lynde did love to drink and use drugs but who didn't? The guy I used to know who was paid for his 'services' when he was in his 20s and in Provincetown and broke and desperate for cash said how he, Paul Lynde, and the fat black guy spent the night getting very drunk, snorted coke, and he sucked and was fucked by both of them and despite being a total bottom fucked the black guy, and was paid $500. This guy did wind up becoming HIV+ but it was not from Paul Lynde or the black guy, but it was in the mid 1990s and by his partner who cheated on him.

R92 What did the guy you knew say Lynde was like?

R93 he said Paul Lynde was very generous and paid him very well for having sex with him and the other guy who just tagged along.

R94 Oh well, least he wasn't some nasty sado who treated him like shit.

If Paul was into BDSM or extremely rough sex it did not happen with the guy I used to know R95, there was another guy there who had tagged along so if Paul Lynde was into that sort of kink or sex maybe that is why he didn't do it? My buddy was paid double $500 in the mid 1970s for being with Paul Lynde and the other guy.

Was Linde ever considered to be attractive? He seemed a bit sexless....