Born On This Day- June 13th... Center Square Paul Lynde

My favorite Paul Lynde anecdote:
In the early 1960s, Lynde was on trans-continental flight. A child was not being supervised by her parents & was running up & down the aisle making noise & annoying the other passengers.The child's mother obviously thought this behavior was precious. When Lynde could take no more of the child's shenanigans, he rose from his seat & approached the mother & stated: "Madam. if you don't control your child this instant, I will have to fuck her."

Paul Lynde was one of the first personalities that I identified as gay when I was a child. I thought his way with a salty one liner & his unique delivery was just too funny. I loved him in the film of Bye Bye Birdie, in a role he originated on Broadway. But it was, of course, the delicious & unbelievable gay double entendres from the center square on Hollywood Squares in the 1960s & early 1970s that made me a fan:

Peter Marshall: Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?
Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.

Peter Marshall: What's the one thing you should never do in bed?
Paul Lynde: Point and laugh!

Peter Marshall: In "The Wizard Of Oz", the Tin Man wanted a heart, & the Lion wanted courage. What did the Straw Man want?
Paul Lynde: He wanted the Tin Man to notice him.

Peter Marshall: At a recent hearing, opponents of flourinated water claim that when it is in in a person's system it can cause an uncontrollable desire for sex.
Paul Lynde: HEY, CULLIGAN MAN!

Peter Marshall: Paul, any good sailor knows that when a man falls off a ship you yell 'Man overboard!' What should you shout if a woman falls overboard?
Paul Lynde: Full speed ahead!

Peter Marshall: What is said to be wasted on the young?
Paul Lynde: A whipping.

Lynde was club performer, director, recording artist, actor on Broadway, in films, television, cartoons & summer stock, & one of Hollywood's finest chefs & hosts. Lynde: “I can't even get 3 weeks off to have cosmetic surgery!” Lynde spent a lifetime engaged in ongoing personal struggles in private life, as the tabloids occasionally reported, but he remained appreciated by those in his profession, friends & fans. He was perhaps most famous just for being Paul Lynde.The enigmatic Lynde:  “I don't know who the hell Paul Lynde is, or why he's funny, & I prefer it to be a mystery to me. An actor shouldn't undergo psychoanalysis, because there are a lot of things you're better off not knowing.”

Lynde was found dead in his Beverly Hills home by friend Paul Barresi on Monday, January 11, 1982... Paul Lynde enjoyed a precarious life of men, drinking & partying.