Paul Lynde

Paul Lynde

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Actor Paul Lynde, 55, best known to millions as the master wit of the "Hollywood Squares" TV game show, died of a heart attack during the weekend, officials said Monday.
Lynde, who never married and lived alone, was found dead by friends who broke into his house in Beverly Hills late Sunday night after he failed to appear at a dinner party several hours earlier.
Coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi said after an autopsy Monday that Lynde died of a massive heart attack and that Lynde had suffered from a form of hardening of the arteries. The coroner also scheduled routine toxicological and microscopic examination of tissues.

ALAN DAVID, Lynde's long-time friend and agent, reported earlier in the day that the actor appeared to have died of natural causes in his sleep.
"When he didn't show up for dinner, his friends became concerned," David said. "He didn't answer the telephone or the door. So they broke in a bathroom window. They found him dead in bed."
Beverly Hills Police Lt. Bill Hunt said Lynde might have been dead for up to 24 hours when his body was discovered.
"Nothing in the house was disturbed and there was no evidence of foul play," he said. "Everything was intact and looked as it normally would look."

LYNDE WAS famous for his caustic, offbeat wit, best displayed on talk and game shows. But David said Lynde had not worked in a major role since "Hollywood Squares" ended in February 1981. "We were developing some material for him," he said.
During his 30-year career, Lynde starred as a sardonic source of comedic relief in such movies as "The Glass Bottom Boat," "Bye Bye Birdie," "Under the Yum-Yum Tree," "Send Me No Flowers" and, most recently, in "The Villain" with Kirk Douglas.
"I think he's one of the five most inherently funny guys in the country," actor Dick Van Dyke, a star of "Bye Bye Birdie," once said of Lynde.

LYNDE WAS born June 13, 1926, in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and educated at Northwestern University, where he majored in drama and speech and became a writer and star of the school's shows.
Lynde was cast in "New Faces of 1952" on Broadway and later in the movie version. But he didn't gain stardom until 1961, when he was cast by Gower Champion in Broadway's "Bye Bye Birdie. Lynde later starred in the movie.
He appeared on stage in such other hits as "Anything Goes," "Dream Girl," "Show Boat," "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Desk Set."
Lynde is survived by a sister, Helen Lynde, of Los Angeles and other relatives in Mt. Vernon, Ohio.