The mad, sad, totally fab life of Paul Lynde

[left-of-center2012]

Being gay was the secret of Lynde’s success, even though it was a (half-hearted) secret. He hid his truth in plain sight, reveling in a camp persona. All these years later, people still don’t know what to make of him.

Lynde’s brilliance was rooted in gayness, but he was deeply conflicted about it. “Paul’s following was mostly straight,” says Cathy Rudolph, author of Paul Lynde: A Biography. “He was afraid if his following was mostly gay, it would open the eyes of his fans that he was also gay and that would end his career.” Lynde was both a role model and a walking stereotype.

There was no one else quite like him on any screen. “He was probably the first gay person — whether he was using the word or not — in a lot of people’s homes across America,” actor-comedian Billy Eichner says. “He was ahead of his time in terms of being as overtly gay as one could be, unlike so many stars of that time.”

https://ew.com/celebrity/paul-lynde-life-legacy/