Paul Lynde - A Biography (10 page)

Dick Gautier later saw a very soft side of Paul when he ran into him while they were both working for John Kenley. Paul was doing a comedy and Dick was in
Music Man.
Dick had brought his four-year-old daughter, Chrissie, to the theater, and Paul loved her.

Paul was enjoying stardom. “My shrink told me there was nothing wrong with me that a job wouldn’t cure,” he said. Sylvia saw how working was very therapeutic for her patient. It was time for them to part, though he still had some intimacy issues that had not been resolved. He needed to learn to love himself off stage and to allow himself to be loved, not limit it to the faceless sounds of applause.

After a year, some of the
Birdie
cast moved on. Paul remained doing 607 performances until it closed in October, 1961. He would continue that role in 1963, when it was turned into a movie. Dick Van Dyke kept his part as Albert and Janet Leigh now played the part of Rosie. Many of Paul’s lines were changed, along with some scenes. Paul was unhappy with the movie and did not think it compared to the Broadway show. “I didn’t get one laugh from the movie version,” Paul groaned, despite the fact that he received great reviews. Judith Crist, film critic for the
New York Herald Tribune
wrote, “…Mr. Lynde alone is worth the price of admission…”
Cue magazine’
s Emory Lewis called Lynde “a great clown,” and
Variety
wrote that he was “deserving of star billing.”

What irked Paul the most, was the new twenty-one-year-old actress who played his daughter in the movie, Ann-Margret. It did not help the fact that she had also attended Northwestern University and never graduated. Paul was only fifteen years her senior, and he had to have his hair dyed gray so he would look old enough to be her father. He told the press he thought the whole movie was based around her, “So she could do her teenage-sex-bombshell act,” Paul said. “It should have been called, ‘Hello Ann-Margaret.’ ”

About this time, Dick Van Dyke had attended a party with Paul. In
A&E
Biography’s: Off Center,
Dick recalled the time that Paul had heard that Hal Prince, the Tony award winning producer and director, was going to be at a party hosted by a mutual friend. Paul just had to meet him — he would surely want him in his next production. He begged the hostess to invite him, and when he showed up, Paul, who had been drinking, walked up to Hal Prince. Instead of words of admiration, he began calling him terrible names. Mr. Prince was horrified.

The next day, Paul was so remorseful and could not believe what he had done. He just had to apologize to the man. An arrangement was made so Paul could do just that. When that time came, Paul was so nervous he had a few drinks, and then he had a few more. He arrived at the party where Mr. Prince was attending. Paul walked right over to him and did a repeat performance of firing insults at him again.

After that horrific scene, Paul worried that story would get around and destroy his chances in show business for good, but his performance as Harry MacAfee had the actor’s phone ringing off the hook. He was getting calls to appear on more television shows including a very popular show starring Perry Como. Paul joined Perry and was such a hit that he became a semi-regular as Perry’s Pal.

Paul felt his troubles were finally over and the dark cloud that seemed to hang over his head was moving on. Although he would be involved in a horrific incident that would not only impact his career but would also haunt him for the rest of his life.

Chapter 6

“Hi ya Sammy!”

One of the most famous and funniest characters known in the world of television in the mid-1960s was known as Uncle Arthur. That hilarious role, played by Paul, was actually made just for his personality. It became one of his most memorable characters in his career.

William (Bill) Asher, who was producing and directing this novel show, had cast his new wife, Elizabeth (Liz) Montgomery, as the star. She played a beautiful witch, who married a mortal and tried to live as an ordinary housewife by not using her supernatural powers. The show, of course, was
Bewitched,
which first aired on ABC in 1964.

Liz’s character was Samantha Stevens and her mortal husband, for the first four seasons, was played by Dick York. Samantha had all sorts of magical relatives who would literally pop in and out of the newlyweds’ lives, creating havoc with their spells. Though actor Dick York was first to play Samantha’s husband and became known as the “first Darrin” by audiences, it was actually Dick Sargent who had originally been cast to play that part. He couldn’t accept it though because by the time the studio got back to him, he had already committed to another project. That’s when Dick York was given the role. However, after the fifth season, York had to leave the show because of a severe back injury he had from a previous car accident. That was when Dick Sargent took over and became known as the “second Darrin.”

Bill Asher asked Paul to be in one episode in the first season, but not as Uncle Arthur. He played Harold Harold, a neurotic driving instructor, hired to teach Samantha to drive. This twenty-sixth episode was titled “
Driving is the Only Way to Fly,
” and first aired in March 1965. Liz thought Paul was hilarious and enjoyed working with him so much that she asked her husband to find a way to make him a regular on the show. That’s when Bill created the practical-joking uncle — the brother of Samantha’s mother, Endora, played by Agnes Moorehead. Uncle Arthur was named after Liz’s maternal uncle, Arthur Cushner.

Bill had first worked with Paul in the 1950s, when he was directing
Colgate Comedy Hour.
He had his hand in directing many of the most popular shows at that time, including
Our Miss Brooks, Make Room for Daddy,
and
I Love Lucy.
He was both producer and director of
The Patty Duke Show
in the 1960s
,
where Paul had a role in one episode as Mr. Snell, in “The Genius.” Bill liked Paul, he thought he was very funny and had tremendous talent. When Bill began both producing and directing
Bewitched
in 1963, he had also been busy directing the movie
Beach Blanket Bingo,
starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Paul was cast in that movie as an agent named Bullets, who managed a teenage girl, played by Linda Evans.

Paul debuted as Samantha’s uncle in “The Joker is a Card,” in October of 1965. Uncle Arthur said off-the-wall puns and played outrageous pranks on his television family. He would greet his niece with a waggle of his head and a “Hi ya Sammy,” in his amusing voice — and he would usually appear out of nowhere. Once he showed up in a photo on her living room wall, and, in that voice and maniacal — almost sinister-like — laugh, said, “I’ve been framed.” Another time his head popped out of a pot on her stove and he said, “I’m a stew away.”

In the episode “The House That Arthur Built,” Uncle Arthur was in love, but his girlfriend did not like his practical jokes, so she dumped him. He was crushed and began singing in an operatic voice. And “poof,” he was suddenly dressed like Pagliacci, the famous sad opera clown. He sings, “Laugh clown laugh, even though no one knows your heart is broken.”

Paul had already acquired fame in these past few years, and he was reaching new heights as Uncle Arthur. He appealed to adults, teens, and children. When he was out in public, kids would call out, “Hey Uncle Arthur!” and they would imitate his voice. Paul ate it up, and said he was amazed at the amount of recognition he received from that part, as he only did one episode a year for
Bewitched.
“They must run a lot of reruns,” he said.

On the set, Paul would always crack Liz up during rehearsal. It became so bad one time that Liz could not speak her lines, and neither of the actors could contain themselves before the camera. They were so out of control that Bill finally threw his hands up and told everyone to break for an early lunch. Paul cherished working with Liz, until she became Serena, Samantha’s spit-firing cousin. As Serena, she got to play something a little spicier than a proper housewife and got to wear short skirts, lots of makeup, and a black wig. She invented the character herself and Paul hated it.

Uncle Arthur was always given the best lines when he was in scenes with Samantha, but now this “Serena character,” had quite a few funny quips of her own. That was when Paul would become antagonistic towards her. Liz always adored Paul and told
Advocate
magazine that when she became Serena, Paul would get competitive. She asked him what bothered him so much about Serena, “Is it her wild wardrobe? I’ll let you borrow it any Saturday night!”

Paul continued with other projects during this time, and he was cast as the voice of Pumpkinhead in the animated movie,
Journey Back to Oz.
He worked with a great cast, including Liza Minnelli, who played the voice of Dorothy. (Her mother, Judy Garland had played the original role in
The Wizard of Oz.
) Ethel Mermon was the voice of the wicked witch, and Margret Hamilton, who was the witch in the original movie, was now the voice of Aunt Em. Other voices in the movie were played by Danny Thomas and Rise Stevens. The voice of Pumpkinhead was paid $500 for his role.

Paul also made an appearance on
The Jack Benny Show.
Paul played a veterinarian for one of Jack’s alligators that was sick. Paul was a usual wreck before the show, but the host of the show laughed so hard during rehearsal, the guest actor was feeling a bit more confident. Jack thought of how Paul had come such a long way since he had first watched him struggling in a night club when he was first starting out.

Bewitched
continued to be a hit show, and in 1966, Bill Asher won an Emmy for Best Directional Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, for
Bewitched.
That same year, the show lost Alice Pierce, who played the nosy neighbor, Mrs. Kravitz. She had been Paul’s longtime friend and was the one who had helped Paul seek therapy when he was depressed. She died of ovarian cancer at forty-eight years old.

Liz and Paul appeared together that year on
Hollywood Palace,
a variety show where Paul and Liz read “The Dagger Scene” from Macbeth. This time Paul played the straight man and Liz got the laughs. They performed “Darts,” a sketch Paul cowrote for
New Faces of 1956,
where Maggie Smith had played the female role. They would work together again in 1972, and were opponents on the popular game show
Password,
hosted by Allen Ludden.

In season five
,
Bill used one of the themes from
I Love Lucy,
which he had directed in 1952, titled
Job Switching.
It was the popular episode where Lucy and Ethel had to work in a chocolate factory, and they end up in one big chocolate mess. Similarly, in
“Samantha’s Power Failure,
” Uncle Arthur and Samantha’s way-out cousin, Serena, had their magical powers taken away by the Witches Council and were forced to work in a chocolate factory. In that episode, the two were hired by Buck, played by Ron Masak, and he instructed his new employees to dip bananas into chocolate and nuts on a rapidly moving conveyor belt
.

According to Ron, the cast had only one night to memorize the script. It had to be done in one take because they were using real bananas and chocolate. Liz was pregnant when she did that scene, and the smell of the chocolate was getting to her. Ron said, “No one else knew it at the time — she was a classy pro.” In the script, Ron (as Buck) did an impression of Paul. After Uncle Arthur said, “What do I do if my nose itches?” Buck said to Uncle Arthur, imitating his famous voice, “Scratch it….on your coffee break.” During the rehearsal of that scene, Paul asked Ron if that’s how he was going to do it [imitate him]. Ron said that Bill liked it and thought it was funny. Paul scrunched up his nose and simply said, “He would.” That episode was voted as one of the five funniest TV scenes by
TVLand.
For anyone wondering if Paul stayed in character after his scenes, Ron said, “He
was
Uncle Arthur.”

Bill, Liz, and Paul often went out to dinner together, and those nights were usually a blast, especially after Paul had a few drinks. They spent more time laughing than eating, as Paul cracked remarks about what some particular woman in the restaurant was wearing or how she ate. Paul did it with good humor, and the surrounding people would often laugh along. Paul continued to order drinks, and soon his comicality was interpreted as malicious — the patrons went from feeling mirthful to hostile. Bill would have to defuse the situation. Though Bill and Paul shared many laughs, Bill also saw a serious side of his friend. He believed Paul could have done a dramatic role, because, he said, “He had that depth.”

Bill and Liz often had their good friend over to their home for dinner. One evening, as Paul drove up the Ashleys driveway, a woman in the neighborhood recognized the star, and soon the anticipated quiet evening became complete chaos. Kids outside began chanting “Uncle Arthur, Uncle Arthur,” and soon many neighbors were jamming their heads in the windows trying to get a glimpse of Paul.

In 1968, the fourth year of
Bewitched,
Marion Lorne, who played the bumbling Aunt Clara on the show, had a heart attack and died. Paul, who already had a phobia of death that began when he lost three family members in three months, was a little spooked that another cast member of
Bewitched
died. It bothered him so much that he was hesitant about doing any more shows — but he did.

In an episode titled “Twitch or Treat,” a very special warlock came to Uncle Arthur’s Halloween party. It was Willie Mays, who at the time was playing for the San Francisco Giants. In that scene, Darrin, (Dick York) can’t believe the baseball great might have magical powers and asks his wife if he’s a warlock?

Samantha answers, “The way he hits home runs, what else?” After that scene was filmed, Paul, along with the entire cast and everyone involved on the set, lined up for Willie, who stayed to sign autographs — and that was real magic.

In 1973, Bill and Liz ended their marriage and also ended their eight-year run of
Bewitched.
Paul was distraught over his two closest friends’ break up, and he told a reporter, “Sometimes, I think you’re better off not being married today,” he said. “When you see your married friends split up, it’s devastating.”

One year later, Agnes Moorehead died, and twenty years later, the star of the show would pass away too. Liz died of colon cancer in 1995. Another person Paul loved was gone. Dick Sargent died of prostate cancer in 1994. Dick York died in 1992: he had emphysema. Bill Asher lived to the age of ninety and died in the summer of 2012.

There were 254 episodes of
Bewitched,
and most people are surprised that Paul was only in eleven of them. Uncle Arthur is still voted as one of the most favorite of all Samantha’s relatives, and reruns are still shown on TV today.

Uncle Arthur had a lot in common with Uncle Paul. According to his niece Connie, both were funny and both loved playing practical jokes. Uncle Paul had two nieces and a nephew, born from his oldest sister, Grace. Her children were Nancy, Connie, and Cordy (named after Paul’s brother who was killed in the war). His other nephew, Doug, had been adopted by his brother Richard and his wife. Helen never married nor had children, neither did his brother Johnny.

After his parents had died, Paul continued to celebrate Christmas with his family in Mount Vernon, at his eldest sister’s home. “The house was on Sugar Street,” Connie said. “We would have big family Christmas dinners. My mother, Grace, would do all the cooking. Helen and Johnny would be there when Paul arrived.” He would step out of his limousine, arriving from New York, with his arms full of presents for everyone in the family. Paul’s favorite holiday was Christmas Eve; he liked the buildup of the night before. His mom always made turkey on Christmas and the tradition continued with Grace. As the extended family grew, Paul became a Grand Uncle to Nancy’s five children. He added them to his Christmas gift list and would also visit at Nancy’s house when he was in town.

The family would sing carols together and Paul and his brother Johnny were always joking around. At times, Uncle Johnny was even funnier than Uncle Paul, both Nancy and Connie agreed. According to Nancy, Johnny and Paul ran together when they were younger. They were the closest in age and were always making everyone around them laugh. Paul, Johnny, and their high school friends would take a drive from Mount Vernon to Danberry, looking out for someone with their thumb in the air looking for a ride. When they found one, they would have the hitchhiker get into the car, and then they would all pretend to be deaf and mute — just for laughs. Other times, they would find out whose parents weren’t home and then sell their furniture.

Paul especially enjoyed the company of his younger brother, who always made him laugh. He explained to a
Newsday
reporter that it wasn’t just his humor; there was something funny about the sound of his voice. Paul knew they sounded alike, and he attributed that fact to his success of being able to make people laugh. Johnny saw every movie his brother was in. He would take a seat, and as soon as Paul was on the screen, he pulled out his camera and started snapping pictures. The people in the movie theater became annoyed, then the manager would kick him out. Johnny would leave and find another theatre with the same movie and start snapping away again.