PAUL LYNDE'S HEADLINING SUMMER STOCK CREDITS

THE IMPOSSIBLE YEARS

Summer 1969
Winter 1970

A comedy written by Bob Fisher & Arthur Marx

Director: Leslie B. Cutler

PAUL LYNDE ... Dr. Jack Kingsley

Richard Burkhart … Wally

Colby Chester … Richard Merrick

Jan DeCarlo … Miss Hammer

Chris Gregory … Andy

Rusty Miller … Dennis

Frederica Minte … Alice Kingsley

Rita Phillipe … Francine

Richard Stack … Ricky Fleisher

Anita Stewart … Linda Kingsley

William Tynan … Bartholomew Smuts

Lawrence Vincent … Arnold Brecher

Casey Walters … Dr. Harold Fleisher

Wendy Wynters ... Abbey Kingsley

PLAZA THEATER, Miami, FLORIDA (January 1970)

Paul Lynde & Phoebe Alexander, Susan Amdur, Charles Brecher, Leonard Drum, Gant Harvey, Frederica Minte, Terence Monk, Doug Newton, Kerry Roland, Richard Stack, Anita Stewart, William Tynan

Plain Dealer
GENERATION GAP COMEDY HAS PACE by Glenn C. Pullen
Paul Lynde’s ability to portray sourpusses in a funny way has made him popular in movies and television and also in Kenley Theater’s production of “The Impossible Years.” This is another of those generation-gap plays that fits the guest star’s style of acting. He turns on an evening of amusing travesty stuffed with one-line gags and performances that are usually more glib than lifelike. Lynde’s rapid-fire timing seems as sharp as his cynical wit in portraying a psychiatrist who writes books on how to raise children… Nobody, however, steals any scenes from Lynde during his domestic tirades. He delivers them with a slow-burn technique that builds up to frequent explosions of rage. He grinds his teeth as he bellows and his scowling is particularly effective. It is unfortunate that he has a distracting way of always looking straight at the audience, striking a somewhat wooden pose, when he fires his funniest quips. (7/17/69)

Dayton Journal Herald
LYNDE WINS AUDIENCE IN ‘IMPOSSIBLE YEARS’ by Hubert Meeker
“The Impossible Years” sports an impossibly funny performance by Paul Lynde that had the Memorial Hall crowd buoyantly on his side last night, laughing and clapping all the way… (7/23/69)

Columbus Dispatch
PAUL LYNDE SPECTACULAR by James T. McCafferty
Ohio’s own Paul Lynde—he’s from Mt. Vernon—came back to Columbus for the first time in 25 years Tuesday as the spectacular star of Kenley’s “The Impossible Years”—far and away the best production of the play this area has ever seen. With a special magic all his own, Lynde breathed fire into a piece generally conceded to be by now fairly well-worn. The result was comedy kindled by contagious inspiration, caught to the man by all members of an excellent cast, shared as surely as broken bread throughout the howling house… Lynde proved himself a master of movement, of gesture, of physical and facial expression. That he is destined to become one of the greats of our time is already beyond the point of discussion. Seldom has an actor so wholly held a house; never has one been more magnetic in his responsible handling of it… (7/30/69)

Miami Herald
LYNDE CONVULSES 'IMPOSSIBLE YEARS' AUDIENCE by George Bourke
...you "really ain't seen" the Arthur Marx-Bob Fisher comedy at its antic best until you've seen, heard and been convulsed by it with its current star, Peerless Paul Lynde. (1/70)

DON'T DRINK THE WATER

Summer 1970

A comedy written by Woody Allen

Director: Leslie B. Cutler

PAUL LYNDE … Walter Hollander

Don Amendolia … Father Drobney

Nancy Andrews … Marion Hollander

John Bentley … Krojak

Gloria Bleezarde … Susan Hollander

John Brigleb ... Burns

Angus Cairns ... Sultan of Bashir

Charles Caron ... Chef & Kasnar

Wanda Griffin ... Countess Bordoni

John Luce … Kilroy

Kathleen Sacci ... Sultan's First Wife

Robert Tananis … Axel Magee

Lawrence Vincent ... Ambassador Magee

Plain Dealer
LYNDE REFRESHING AT KENLEY IN ‘DON’T DRINK THE WATER’ by Glenn C. Pullen
Lynde’s acting style is a bit old-fashioned but tremendously effective in caricature. He quickly builds an amusing portrayal of a temperamental New Jersey caterer on a vaction tour of a country behind the Iron Curtain. … There are few comics who possess his rubber-faced ability in expressing rage or dismay so eloquently. His blistering tantrums are almost cyclonic. Lynde’s special trademark is a high nasal, snarling voice that has the rasp of a dentist’s drill. After hearing it for over two hours, that grindstone voice will either wear down your own nerves or leave you exhausted from chuckling… (7/2/70)

Dayton Daily News
PAUL LYNDE, ‘WATER,’ MAKE VIEWER SICK…FROM LAUGHING by B.W.
Paul Lynde makes me sick. Actually sick to my stomach. Sick to my stomach with laughter. I ache. Ache, hell…I hurt. A hurt that won’t go away till Paul Lynde goes away… (7/8/70)

Columbus Citizen Journal
‘BE KIND TO WOODY WEEK’ – AND PAUL LYNDE OBLIGES by Ron Pataky
Paul Lynde could read a seed catalogue aloud and send a Central Ohio audience into spasms of uncontrollable laughter. More physical acts – things like sitting down, standing up, walking, putting on a hat, etc. – are cause for no less than a standing ovation (with write-in votes for governor a distinct possibility). … But it’s Paul Lynde’s show, Paul Lynde’s week. He rolls his eyes and the audience rolls in the aisle. The only other guy I know who had the same effect on audiences was W.C. Fields And like I say, I can’t explain it… (7/15/70)

PLAZA SUITE

Summer 1971

A comedy written by Neil Simon

Director: Leslie B. Cutler

PAUL LYNDE ... Sam Nash, Jesse Kiplinger, Ray Hubley

Charles Caron … Waiter

Nathan Goldman … Bellhop, Borden Eisler

Renee Orin … Karen Nash, Muriel Tate, Norma Hubley

Janet Lee Parker  ... Jean McCormack, Mimsey Hubley

Elizabeth Allen took over for Orin in Atlanta.

Plain Dealer
EVERY ‘PLAZA SUITE’ LINE BRINGS KENLEY PLAYERS PEALS OF LAUGHTER by Emerson Batdorff
Neil Simon should have seen his “Plaza Suite” here opening night! Nobody on stage could say anything without everyone in the audience laughing fit to split… (7/1/71)

Dayton Daily News
‘PLAZA SUITE’ PRESENTS LYNDE AT HIS TAILOR-MADE FINEST by B.W.
Neil Simon’s excellent comedy “Plaza Suite” fits Paul Lynde like a quality “GGG” suit and Tuesday night’s John Kenley production of “Plaza Suite” – at Memorial hall – displayed Lynde at his tailor-made finest. “G” for gestures; “G” as in grimacing – really Lynde’s long suit – and another “G” for General all-around comic grace and you’ve got Paul Lynde, the star of the current Kenley comedy. Paul Lynde is Paul Lynde is Paul Lynde is Paul Lynde etc., etc., etc. and that’s what total sellout crowds have paid for in Warren, Dayton and Columbus… (7/7/71)

Columbus Dispatch
LYNDE GUIDES ‘PLAZA’ INTO ROARING FINALE by Donald W. Houk
Taken as a whole, the evening was entertaining. The script is reasonably funny; the laughs were where they should have been; a different actress was impressive in most of her performance and Lynde delivered his superb brand of comedy in the last act. It was not the best Lynde ever seen in Columbus, but after all, what man can bat 1,000 every day? (7/14/71)

Atlanta Constitution
‘SUITE’ IS FUNNY WITH 2 TOP STARS by Steve Clark
Anybody out there who frets over the idea that Americans have lost or are losing their sense of humor really ought to see Paul Lynde in action on the stage. You have to see him to believe him… (7/21/71)

MY DAUGHTER IS RATED X

Summer 1973

A comedy written by Bob Fisher & Arthur Marx

Director: Leslie B. Cutler

PAUL LYNDE ... Paul Stevens

Elizabeth Allen … Elizabeth Stevens

Bruce Boxleitner … Cliff Thornton

Joanne Gibson … Barbara Thornton

George Hall … Jonas Thornton

Suzanne Wasson … Sydney Negley

Pulu

Plain Dealer
‘MY DAUGHTER’ IS FINE FOR ROAD BUT WOULDN’T LAST ON BROADWAY by Peter Bellamy
The embattled father of the piece is Paul Lynde, the television star, and superb exemplar of the exacerbated father and "What's the Matter With Kids Today?" attitude... (6/28/73)

Dayton Journal Herald
LYNDE GOOD AND BAD IN KENLEY COMEDY by Walt McCaslin
There are moments when Paul Lynde can be mightily exasperating as an actor, with his repetitious double-takes, his device of seeming to break up over his own punch-lines and his perpetual look of a guy who has just tasted a mouse dipped in olive oil. But there are other moments in which he is a master of timing and miming and can build an audience guffaw from almost nothing... (7/4/73)

Columbus Dispatch
LYNDE’S INIMITABLE TALENT ENHANCES GOOD PLAY by Sara Carroll
Critical rating of “My Daughter Is Rated X,” at Veterans Memorial, is hereby upped to a G – for great… Lynde is – well, Lynde – but this time with a bit more polish to his acting, not relying solely on his television image to project comedy… Lynde and Miss Allen’s previous association in their television series is to their advantage. They play “off” each other exceptionally well. One gets the distinct feeling that, had material for their TV show been less monotonous, the series could have been a whale of success. Well, at least thy have the consolation of knowing that this Kenley week should be just that – a whale of a success, with Lynde at his best and Miss Allen right behind them. (7/11/73)

Atlanta Constitution
2ND ACT HELPS ‘DAUGHTER’ by Gregory Jaynes
Getting to the good part means enduring a banal beginning laced with those tiresome jokes about women’s liberation, pornography and hijackings. It’s a little like hearing a rerun of a two-year-old, once topical Bob Hope monologue… It’s not really good enough material for a comedian like Lynde… (7/18/73)

NO HARD FEELINGS / MOTHER IS ENGAGED

Summer 1974
Fall 1974

A comedy written by Sam Bobrick & Ron Clark

Director: Leslie B. Cutler

PAUL LYNDE … George Bartlett

Elizabeth Allen … Roberta Bartlett

Douglas Burmeister ... Fred & Policeman

Marilyn Child … Bunny Sutton

Cindy Hannah ... Joanna Wilkins

Dick Patterson … Alex Springer

William Tynan … Jimmy Skouras

PARKER PLAYHOUSE, FT. LAUDERDALE:

PAUL LYNDE … George Bartlett

Elizabeth Allen … Roberta Bartlett

Douglas Burmeister ... Fred & Policeman

Marilyn Child ... Bunny Sutton

Paul Dumont … Jimmy Skouras

Elliott Reid … Alex Springer

Laura Wallace  … Joanna Wilkins

Plain Dealer
‘MOTHER’ IS TOTALLY LACKING IN WIT, GRACE AND CHARM by Robert Finn
“Mother Is Engaged” is a show of stupefying banality, totally lacking in grace, wit or charm. And Paul Lynde is no help to it. Lynde plays a total boob whose wife has left him for a younger man. The evening consists of his bumbling efforts to get her back. His acting arsenal consists of (a) bellowing at the top of his voice, (b) shameless mugging, and (c) the silly simpering drawl that is his TV trademark. After he has gone through this list once, the rest of the evening is relentless repetition… (6/27/74)

Dayton Daily News
‘MOTHER IS ENGAGED’ WASTES LYNDE’S TALENTS by Charles Stough
[Sam Bobrick and Ron Clark’s] play, which wastes the talents of Paul Lynde, is a comedy about a man whose world crumbles when his wife runs away to live with a wait she has picked up. She gets pregnant, and in the hilarious dynamic of it all, hubby winds up in the penitentiary. Hilarious. Next we will have Jonathan Winters starring as a scrap iron dealer gone bankrupt because the armistice was signed too soon. Charley Weaver will rollick as an illegal abortionist put out of business by the pill. Buddy Hackett will dance through the musical, “Jack the Ripper.” This is no comedy. This is a tragedy and a fraud… (7/3/74)

Columbus Citizen Journal
PAUL LYNDE WOWS KENLEY AUDIENCE by Gene Gerrard
It is easy to understand why Lynde has been the biggest star attraction for Kenley Players in recent years. He fluctuates between the ridiculous and the absurd like a harried hound out of hell, doing a slow burn here and a fast take there. He’s fun to be with. It’s as simple as that. (7/10/74)

Flint Journal
LYNDE GRIMACE HIS WAY TO A RAVE IN STAR’S LATEST by David V. Graham
There is no doubt that Lynde is one of the best comic actors in the country today and certainly the best I’ve seen in Flint the last 10 years. Nearly every line Lynde grimaced his way through with his characteristic expression was greeted with genuine laughs and appreciative chuckles from an audience that loved him from the minute he walked onstage… (7/17/74)

Indianapolis News
LYNDE PUTS MAGIC TOUCH TO SO-SO PLAY by Charles Staff
Without Lynde as the star, the two-act comedy would fall flat on its face and did on Broadway, opening and closing in one night. But with him and a good supporting cast…the production provides adult, farcical entertainment that will have audiences reeling… (8/6/74)

Toledo Blade
PAUL LYNDE SHINES IN PLAY AT MASONIC by Boris Nelson
[We] turn to Paul Lynde, of whom I referred as an actor rather than a comedian, for he is a superior actor who knows his comedy, how to throw away a line, how to time a gag, how to telegraph facially, bodily an emotion, a reaction, a sensibility. Frankly, I never suspected from the endless TV exposures he has suffered that he is as good an actor as he revealed himself to be live. And Paul Lynde is indeed the play… (8/13/74)

Home | Paul's Credits - 1975-1980