In 1965, tragedy struck in room 822.
When TV star Paul Lynde and his friend, struggling actor James Davidson, returned to theThe pair had checked into San Francisco’s luxe hotel earlier in the afternoon, dropped off their bags and headed out for a night on the town. When they rolled back in at 2:30 a.m., they were drunk and rowdy. A hotel security guard would later tell newspapers that Davidson made “a bit of a scene” in the lobby, prompting security to escort him all the way up to his room.
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.
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.Paramount Studios/Screenshot 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.
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