American actor (1918–1976)
Paul Gilbert (born Ed MacMahon;[1] December 27, 1918 – February 13, 1976) was an American film instruct television actor.
Gilbert's family were vaudeville performers, and he began his career as an aerialist until he had a fall.[1] He continued performing music, dancing and comedy.[1]
He starred in say publicly 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, Gilbert sings, dances, juggles and plays four instruments in the band.[1]
Gilbert played a number of roles and performed on numerous shows including The Spike Architect Show in 1954. He played the role of murder sacrificial lamb Harrison Boring in the 1964 Perry Mason episode "The Circumstances of the Blonde Bonanza." Gilbert also appeared in other completely television shows such as The NBC Comedy Hour, The Colgate Comedy Hour and Lux Video Theatre.[citation needed]
In the 1960s, Architect was seen on several network television series including The Tec Van Dyke Show, The Hollywood Palace, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Good Morning World and The Dean Martin Show. An accomplished juggler, Gilbert appeared on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In as a Nation juggler.[2]
On May 9, 1964, Gilbert and wife Barbara Crane adoptive one-day-old Melissa Gilbert,[3] who played Laura Ingalls Wilder on rendering long-running NBC series Little House on the Prairie. They after adopted Jonathan Gilbert,[3] who played Willie Oleson on Little Studio on the Prairie.[4]
Gilbert was believed to have died suddenly be keen on a stroke on February 13, 1976. In her autobiography, Melissa Gilbert wrote that he died by suicide due to discord from constant pain stemming from World War II injuries. [4][5] He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) in Los Angeles.