Paul Dooley (born Paul Brown; February 22, 1928) is an American

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

. He is known for his roles in '' Breaking Away'', ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Strange Brew'', '' Sixteen Candles'' and various

Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born 5 February 1948), known professionally as Christopher Guest, is a British-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. Guest has written, directed, and starred in his series of comedy ...

mockumentaries. He co-created the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

children's show ''

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. ...

''.

Early life

Dooley was born Paul Brown on February 22, 1928, in Parkersburg,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, the son of Ruth Irene (née Barringer), a homemaker, and Pete James Brown, a factory worker. He 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, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

. In high school, he often performed at fairs as a clown named Dooley. In the mid-1950s, he legally changed his surname to match his clown persona, as there was already a Broadway actor named Paul Brown. 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 comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

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 naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and served for two years before returning home and graduating from

West Virginia State University West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia, United States. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Color ...

in 1952.

Career

After graduation, Dooley went to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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 Igor Mikhail Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theatre director and comedian. He worked across a range of genres and had an aptitude for getting the best out of actors regardless of ...

. 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 Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best kn ...

, 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 The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best-known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ...

, thanks to a referral from Walter Matthau, who played Oscar Madison in the play. Also having an interest in comedy, Dooley was a

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

for five years, eventually landing on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

,'' 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 Alan Wolf Arkin (March 26, 1934 – June 29, 2023) was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. In a career spanning seven decades, he received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony A ...

and

Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner and a three-time Tony Award nominee, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pier ...

. Dooley also worked as a writer. He created and was one of the head writers on ''

,'' produced by the

Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—includin ...

for

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 Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, author, comedian, director and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades. He was the List of awards and nominations received by Carl Reiner, recipient of many awards and ...

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, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

) 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 E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure'', '' Breaking Away'', ''Runaway Bride'', and the voice of Sarge in the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

films ''

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

'', ''

Cars 2 ''Cars 2'' is a 2011 American 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 the studio ...

'' and '' Cars 3''. He worked with

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

regularly and is known as a prolific journeyman

. After Altman saw Dooley in the

Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer ( ; January 26, 1929 – January 17, 2025) was an American cartoonist and author, who at one time was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for Pulitzer Prize for Editori ...

comedy ''Hold Me'', he signed him for a role in his film '' A Wedding''. He and Altman co-wrote the film ''

Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

''. 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 American film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986 film), a 1986 American film based on th ...

'', but was replaced by Jim Belushi in the final cut. Dooley has worked with

on a number of films, including '' Death Wish'', ''Little Shop of Horrors'', and the Guest-directed films '' Waiting for Guffman'', '' A Mighty Wind'', and '' For Your Consideration''.

Television

Dooley has also appeared as a variety of recurrent characters on numerous television shows, including '' ER'', '' My So-Called Life'', '' Dream On'', '' Grace Under Fire'', '' thirtysomething'', ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...

'', '' ALF'' (playing Whizzer Deaver), '' Chicago Hope'', and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' where he played the recurring role of Enabran Tain. He guest starred in other primetime shows like '' Bewitched'', ''

The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age comedy television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from January 31, 1988, until May 12, 1993. The series premiered immediately after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl X ...

'', ''

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appea ...

'', ''

Hot in Cleveland ''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom aired on TV Land and starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White. The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was ...

'', and ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama 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 tota ...

''. With

Rita Moreno Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano; December 11, 1931) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. With a career spanning eight decades she is known for her roles on stage and screen, and is one of the last remaining stars from t ...

, he appeared in ''

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. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...

'' episode "Empty Nests" which had been intended to be a

backdoor pilot 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 ...

for what would eventually become ''

Empty Nest ''Empty Nest'' is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from October 8, 1988, to June 17, 1995. The series, which was created as a spin-off of ''The Golden Girls'' by creator and producer Susan Harris, starred Richa ...

''. Dooley starred in the short-lived comedy about a couple living in an

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

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 b ...

'', opposite veteran actors

Phyllis Newman Phyllis Newman (March 19, 1933 – September 15, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She won the 1962 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Martha Vail in the musical '' Subways Are for Sleeping'' on Broadway ...

Glynis Johns Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (5 October 1923 – 4 January 2024) was a British actress. In a career exceeding seven decades on stage and screen, Johns appeared in more than 60 films and 30 plays. She received various accolades throughout her ca ...

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 television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for his role as an eccentric 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 i ...

''. In 2010, Dooley played the part of the head chef at Camp Victory, a fictional fat camp, on the short-lived

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

original series '' 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, 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) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

and live in Toluca Lake in

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, ...

. Dooley was previously married to Donna Lee Wasser on September 19, 1958, which ended in divorce. He has three children from his first marriage. In 2022, Dooley published his memoir, titled ''Movie Dad: Finding Myself and My Family, On Screen and Off''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre

Theme park attractions

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dooley, Paul 1928 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male comedians American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors Comedians from West Virginia Male actors from West Virginia Military personnel from Parkersburg, West Virginia People from Toluca Lake, Los Angeles United States Navy sailors American television show creators