MOUNT VERNON — As a nod to “Hollywood Squares,” the game show that brought Mount Vernon native Paul Lynde to the peak of his stardom in the 1970s, a live “Knox Squares” show is being planned as a bicentennial event in early July, the Knox County Bicentennial Committee has announced. The show will feature well-known area personalities fielding trivia questions to help competing contestants.
“I think this will be a fun way to celebrate Paul Lynde as part of the history of the community,” said committee chairman Pat Crow.
The event was initially suggested by Mike Petee, who has joined Pat Crow, Sandy Crow, Joe Bell and Jim Gibson on a subcommittee to organize the event. The show will feature local personalities appearing both in the squares on stage and as contestants. The program will be held live on the stage of the Memorial Theater in Mount Vernon on July 2 and 3.
Lynde was born in Mount Vernon in 1926 and grew up here in the 1930s and ’40s. As a professional actor and comedian, he became known on Broadway in the early 1950s, which led to movie appearances such as “Bye Bye Birdie” and guest-starring slots on television sitcoms like “Bewitched” and “I Dream of Jeannie.” Lynde also did a great deal of voice-over work, most notably providing the voice for Templeton the Rat in the animated version of “Charlotte’s Web.” He became most famous for his snappy comments as the center square on “Hollywood Squares,” which ran from 1966 to 1981. Lynde died in 1982 and is buried in Amity.
