Paul Lynde began his career as a stand-up comic, basing his character on a hay-kicker type from his hometown of Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Supper club work ultimately led to Broadway's "New Faces of 1952", in which Lynde continued to portray a man of painful naiveté and merciless good humor.
Today, the Lynde Trademarks, the gleaming smile and the waggle of the head, have established him as a top television personality. One of Lynde's television roles is the smart-alecky warlock Uncle Arthur in Screen Gems' "Bewitched".
At Northwestern University, Lynde's goal was to become a serious actor, but when he tried out for the role of Cyrano he was so funny he had to finish his audition in the drama professor's office. After graduation, he took off for Manhattan and an acting career.
Three years in New York finally brought him his smash role of the father in "Bye, Bye Birdie". Lynde came to Hollywood in 1963 where he has appeared in TV shows from daytime's "Hollywood Squares" to prime time's "Kraft Music Hall", "I Dream Of Jeannie", "The Flying Nun", and the Jackie Gleason, Jonathan Winters and Dean Martin shows.