Paul Gilbert (born Ed MacMahon; December 27, 1918 – February 13, 1976) was an American film and television actor.

Biography

Gilbert's family were

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

performers, and he began his career as an

aerialist Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...

until he had a fall. He continued performing music, dancing and comedy. He starred in the 1954 series '' The Duke'' as a former boxer who has decided to give up his fighting career to become a respectable nightclub owner. In the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

, Gilbert sings, dances, juggles and plays four instruments in the band. Gilbert played various roles and performed on numerous shows including ''

The Spike Jones Show ''The Spike Jones Show'' was the name of several separate American comedy and variety series that aired on NBC and CBS in the 1950s and 1960s. The series was presented by actor and musician Spike Jones, his wife, musician Helen Grayco and their ...

'' in 1954. He played the role of murder victim Harrison Boring in the 1964 ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...

'' episode "The Case of the Blonde Bonanza." Gilbert also appeared in other early television shows such as ''

The NBC Comedy Hour ''The NBC Comedy Hour'' was a comedy show that ran on NBC January 8, 1956 - June 10, 1956, as a replacement for ''The Colgate Comedy Hour''. Background Robert Welch developed the series, which originally was called ''New Comedy Hour''. He expres ...

'', ''

The Colgate Comedy Hour ''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the serie ...

'' and ''

Lux Video Theatre ''Lux Video Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1957. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays. Overview The ''Lux Vi ...

''. In the 1960s, Gilbert was seen on several network television series including ''

The Dick Van Dyke Show ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961, to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Productions"Calv ...

'', ''

The Hollywood Palace ''The Hollywood Palace'' was an hourlong American television variety show broadcast Saturday nights (except September 1967 to January 1968, when it aired on Tuesday nights) on ABC from January 4, 1964, to February 7, 1970. Titled ''The Satur ...

'', '' Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.'', '' Good Morning World'' and ''

The Dean Martin Show ''The Dean Martin Show'' is a TV Variety show, variety-Television comedy, comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by Dean Martin. The theme song to the series was his 1964 hit "Everybody Loves ...

''. An accomplished juggler, Gilbert appeared on ''

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for six seasons from January 22, 1968, to July 23, 1973, on the NBC television network. The show, hosted by comed ...

'' as a French juggler. On May 9, 1964, Gilbert and wife

Barbara Crane Barbara Crane (March 19, 1928 – August 7, 2019) was an American artist photographer born in Chicago, Illinois. Crane worked with a variety of materials including Polaroid, gelatin silver, and platinum prints among others. She was known for her ...

adopted one-day-old

Melissa Gilbert Melissa Ellen Gilbert (born May 8, 1964) is an American actress. Gilbert began her career as a child actress in the late 1960s, appearing in numerous commercials and guest-starring roles on television. From 1974 to 1983, she starred as Laura Ing ...

, who played

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, teacher, and journalist. She is best known as the author of the children's book series ''Little House on the Prairie'', published between 1932 and 1 ...

on the long-running

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

series ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books comprise a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adulthood in the Midwestern United States, Americ ...

''. They later adopted

Jonathan Gilbert Jonathan J. Gilbert (born April 28, 1967) is an American former television and film actor known for his role as Willie Oleson on the TV series ''Little House on the Prairie''. Personal life Gilbert was born on April 28, 1967. He is the adopted s ...

, who played Willie Oleson on ''Little House on the Prairie''.Gilbert, Melissa (2009). Prairie Tale: A Memoir (1st ed.), pg. 114. Gallery Books; /

Death

Gilbert was believed to have died suddenly of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on February 13, 1976. In her autobiography, Melissa Gilbert wrote that he died by

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

due to suffering from constant pain stemming from World War II injuries while serving as a fighter pilot in the Air Corps. He was buried at

Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills is one of the six Forest Lawn cemeteries in Southern California, United States. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. History The first Fo ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * 1918 births 1976 deaths 1976 suicides Male actors from New York City American male film actors American male television actors Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) 20th-century American male actors Suicides in California American military personnel of World War II American World War II fighter pilots United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Male suicides {{US-screen-actor-stub