Then, screaming was heard on the street outside. A few moments later, Davidson was dead.

—

Paul Lynde and James Davidson were in very different places in their careers in July 1965.

Lynde, then 39, was one of America’s most famous gay performers of the 1960s. He often played intentionally over-the-top campy characters, and his sexuality, although never talked about publicly, was something of an open secret. After finding success on Broadway, playing Harry McAfee in “Bye Bye Birdie” on stage and in the film adaptation, he quickly became a television mainstay by the early ’60s. He brought his lively comedy to practically every major variety and talk show of the era and, just a few months prior to Davidson’s death, debuted the role he would become best known for: Uncle Arthur on “Bewitched.”

Davidson was 24. He moved from Nebraska to Hollywood a few years prior, like so many others, hoping to make it in show business. He was movie-star handsome with clean-cut, “Beach Blanket Bingo” friendliness in his smile. His voice, which can be heard briefly in the 1965 Jean Harlow biopic “Harlow,” was deep and arresting. 

But success was slow. There are few mentions of Davidson in the press. He only appeared in three movies: “Take Her, She’s Mine,” a Jimmy Stewart comedy vehicle in 1963, “Move Over, Darling” in 1963 and the aforementioned “Harlow.” He was uncredited in each of the roles.

It’s not clear how Lynde and Davidson met — or whether their relationship was more than platonic — but fate put them in room 822 that summer night in 1965. Davidson, heavily intoxicated and in a jocular mood, turned to Lynde and told him, “Watch me do a trick.” Lynde watched, laughing, as Davidson opened the eighth-floor window and climbed out. For a moment, Lynde thought Davidson had his feet on a ledge down below. But then Davidson’s face turned ghastly and he gasped, “Help me, I’m slipping!” 

Lynde ran to the window, reaching for his friend’s wrists. Down below, a pair of passing beat cops heard screams and joined a gathering crowd staring up at the Sir Francis Drake. Davidson could be seen scrambling, trying desperately to boost his leg back up to the open window. He tried three times before his hands lost their weak grip and he fell to the pavement below. He died on impact.

Investigators questioned Lynde in the fatal hotel room. Tearfully, he explained that Davidson loved to joke around, and he initially thought this was another prank. “He weighs about 180 pounds. It was too much for me,” Lynde wept. “I told him to grab my neck, but he slipped away.”

The coroner’s office ruled it an accidental death. Davidson’s remains were returned to his family in Grand Island, Nebraska, where he is buried. 

The accident, although shocking, didn’t slow Lynde’s career. After the initial news coverage died down, the story disappeared from the press. Lynde continued with his role on “Bewitched” and, the next year, became a famously snarky, often playfully racy, square on the game show “The Hollywood Squares.” He was nominated for three daytime Emmys during his time as the center square. 

But alcoholism dogged Lynde for much of the rest of his life. He was arrested several times for public intoxication, and his tumultuous personal life reportedly made some studio executives wary. In January 1982, Lynde didn’t show for a party, prompting friends to visit his Beverly Hills home. He was found dead in his bed, killed at age 55 by a heart attack.

He is buried in Amity Cemetery in his hometown of Mount Vernon, Ohio. He is surrounded by family members, including his favorite brother, Pvt. Coradon Lynde, who was killed in the Battle of the Bulge.