In an age when celebrities have turned the act of coming outinto an empowering media event, Paul Lynde certainly seemslike a campy relic of less-liberated times. This view of Lyndeas an out-of-step, self-loathing queen of queens overlooksthe man's great, if accidental, achievement: getting away withbeing gay on TV on an almost daily basis for years. Duringhis three decades as a popular character actor on television,film and the stage, this fairy forefather's arch and bitchy witsnuck regular doses of the queer world into that bastion ofintolerance, the American living room. Lynde showed mainstreamviewers that a gay man could deliver the jokes, notjust be the butt of them. In doing so, he helped make homosexualitymore palatable to unwitting viewers who simply sawhim as a stylish, funny man. Biographers Steve Wilson andJoe Florenski draw on revealing interviews with friends fromLynde's childhood, college days and adult years-includingstars such as Phyllis Diller, Charlotte Rae, Cloris Leachmanand Peter Marshall, who worked with Lynde in Broadwayproductions and in film and television. What emerges is amemorable portrait of a man who reaped his share of wealth,enjoyed a fair amount of fame and basked in the adorationof thousands of fans-but paid a price in hardship, heartbreakand hangovers.

Steve Wilsonmet co-biographer Joe Florenskiwhile researchingan article on Paul Lynde for Outmagazine in 2000. He ran across Florenski's website devoted to Lynde.Begun in 1997, the site contains exhaustive resources onLynde, and Florenski has lent research support to both E!and A&E's Biographyfor their segments on the comedian.Wilson and Florenski worked so well together on the piecefor Outthat they decided to collaborate on a book.