HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Paul Dooley (born Paul Brown; February 22, 1928) is an American character actor, writer and comedian. He is known for his roles in '' Breaking Away'', '' Sixteen Candles'', and ''
Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Parkersburg, West Virginia, the son of Ruth Irene (née Barringer), a homemaker, and Pete James Brown, a factory worker. He has said that Parkersburg had few attractions that interested him, as there were not many cultural opportunities. He enjoyed listening to comedians on the radio, especially
Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...
. Dooley was a
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...
as a youth and drew a strip for a local paper in Parkersburg. In 1946, he joined the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
and served for 2 years before then returning home and graduating from
West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...
in 1952.


Career

After graduating from West Virginia University, Dooley went to New York City to try his luck in the entertainment industry. He initially found work as a clown for children's birthday parties. In New York he soon found success as a regular on the stage. In the early 1950s, he made his debut on the New York stage and was discovered by
Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...
. The director gave him his first break by casting him in 1965's '' The Odd Couple'' on Broadway. Dooley appeared as Oscar's poker crony, Homer "Speed" Deegan and understudied Art Carney, who portrayed Felix Unger; when Carney left the play later on, Dooley assumed the role of Felix. Dooley was represented by the William Morris Agency, thanks to a referral from
Walter Matthau Walter Matthau (; born Walter John Matthow; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his film roles in '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957), '' King Creole'' (1958) and as a coach of a ...
, who played Oscar Madison in the play. Also having an interest in comedy, Dooley was a
stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...
for five years, eventually landing on '' The Tonight Show,'' and a member of the Compass Players and The Second City troupe in New York City. Fellow members of The Second City at that time were Alan Arkin and
Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war come ...
. Dooley also worked as a writer. He created and was one of the head writers on ''
The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...
,'' produced by the
Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...
for PBS in the United States. Dooley wrote "runners", a series of short sketches with 8 or 10 characters that were broadcast over the course of several weeks. He found out years later that Carl Reiner had recommended him for the job. Some of the characters Dooley created for ''The Electric Company'' included ''Easy Reader'' (
Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...
) and ''Fargo North, Decoder'' ( Skip Hinnant), as well as the soap opera spoof '' Love of Chair''. Dooley formed a company with Andrew Duncan and Lynne Lipton called All Over Creation to create commercials for radio and television. They produced around 500 TV commercials and 1,000 radio spots. A character named Paul the Gorilla that appeared in television commercials was named after him.


Films

Dooley has appeared in such films as '' Sixteen Candles'', ''
Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure'', '' Breaking Away'', and the voice of Sarge in the
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
/
Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...
films '' Cars'', ''
Cars 2 ''Cars 2'' is a 2011 American computer-animated spy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to '' Cars'' (2006), the second film in the ''Cars'' franchise, and the 12th animated film from ...
'' and '' Cars 3.'' He worked with
Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New ...
regularly and is known as a prolific journeyman
character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...
. After Altman saw Dooley in the
Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer (born January 26, 1929)''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 is an American cartoonist and author, who was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 as North- ...
comedy ''Hold Me'', he signed him for a role in his film '' A Wedding.'' He and Altman co-wrote the film ''Health''. He was also in the director's cut of ''
Little Shop of Horrors Little Shop of Horrors may refer to: * ''The Little Shop of Horrors'', a 1960 film directed by Roger Corman ** ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film ** ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (film), a 1986 film adaptati ...
'', but was replaced by
Jim Belushi James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom '' According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include '' Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security' ...
in the final cut. Dooley has worked with
Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in h ...
on a number of films.


Television

Dooley has also appeared as a variety of recurrent characters on numerous television shows, including '' My So-Called Life'', '' Dream On'', ''
Grace Under Fire ''Grace Under Fire'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 29, 1993, to February 17, 1998. The show starred Brett Butler as a single mother learning how to cope with raising her three children alone after finally divorcing her ...
'', '' thirtysomething'', ''
Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televi ...
'', '' ALF'' (playing Whizzer Deaver), ''
Chicago Hope ''Chicago Hope'' is an American medical drama television series, created by David E. Kelley. It originally aired on CBS from September 18, 1994, to May 4, 2000. The series is set in a fictional private charitable hospital in Chicago, Illino ...
'', and ''
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (abbreviated as ''DS9'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from ...
'' where he played the recurring role of Enabran Tain. He guest starred in other primetime shows like ''
Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typ ...
'', '' The Wonder Years'', '' Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'', ''
The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty Wh ...
'', '' Hot in Cleveland'', and ''
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a t ...
''. Dooley starred in the short-lived comedy about a couple living in an
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
retirement community, ''
Coming of Age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...
'', opposite veteran actors Phyllis Newman,
Glynis Johns Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a South African-born British former actress, dancer, musician and singer. Recognised as a film and Broadway icon, Johns has a career spanning eight decades, in which she appeared in more than ...
and Alan Young. In 2000, he was nominated for an
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for his role as an
eccentric Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...
judge on ''
The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy ...
''. In 2010, Dooley played the part of the head chef at Camp Victory, a fictional fat camp, on the short-lived
ABC Family The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...
original series ''
Huge Huge may refer to: * Huge cardinal, a number in mathematics * ''Huge'' (Caroline's Spine album), 1996 * ''Huge'' (Hugh Hopper and Kramer album), 1997 * ''Huge'' (TV series), a television series on ABC Family * Huge (digital agency) * ''Huge'' ...
,'' which was created and written by his wife and daughter. In 2014 he appeared in an episode of the NBC series '' Parenthood'' as Rocky, a fellow vet and retiree to Craig T. Nelson's Zeek Braverman. In 2017 he appeared in the episode "22 Steps" of the ABC series '' The Good Doctor'' as Glenn, a 72-year-old man with a failing heart who breaks his pacemaker because he wants to die due to the constant pain he is suffering.


Theater

Dooley co-wrote the play, ''Assisted Living,'' with his wife Winnie Holzman. It was their first theatrical collaboration. The play premiered on April 5, 2013.


Personal life

Dooley has been married to
Winnie Holzman Winnie Holzman (born August 18, 1954 in Manhattan) is an American dramatist, screenwriter, and poet. She is known for having created the ABC television series ''My So-Called Life'', which led to a nomination for a scriptwriting Emmy Award in 1995, ...
, whom he first met at an improv acting class in New York, since November 18, 1984. The couple have a daughter
Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
and live in Toluca Lake in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. He was previously married to Donna Lee Wasser on September 19, 1958, which ended in divorce. He has three children from his first marriage.


Filmography


Film


Television


Video games


Theme park attractions


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dooley, Paul 1928 births 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Living people American male stage actors American male film actors American male voice actors American male television actors Male actors from West Virginia People from Parkersburg, West Virginia People from Toluca Lake, Los Angeles