Paul Dooley is an American stand-up comedian, screenwriter and actor, whose filmography includes about 200 films and TV series. Among other things, he starred in TV series such as "Alpha", "Clinic", "Star Trek: Deep Space 9." Plus, in the popular cartoon trilogy Cars, it was he who voiced such a character as Sergeant.
early years
Paul Dooley was born in 1928 in West Virginia, in the small town of Parkersburg. His family was quite ordinary - his mother, Ruth Irene, was a housewife, and his father (his name was Peter James) worked in a factory.
Dooley spent his childhood in the same Parkersburg. And, as he himself later recalled, there were few attractions that interested him (in particular, theaters). Moreover, his parents did not have a television set. But there was radio, which the future actor loved to listen to (he especially liked the radio performances of the comedians of that era, in particular, Jimmy Durante).
As a teenager, Dooley worked as a cartoonist for a local newspaper. He then served in the United States Navy and was educated at West Virginia University. Dooley graduated from this university in 1952 with a BA in Oratory and Drama.
After graduation, Paul moved to New York, where he first worked as a clown on children's parties, and then acted as a stand-up comedian for five years (for example, in this capacity he participated in the shows "Compass Players" and "The Second City") …
Filming in television series
In the early sixties, Dooley began acting in serials. Among the first multi-part projects in his track record are "Defenders" (1961-1965), "My wife bewitched me" (1964-1972) "East / West" (1963-1964). After that, there were several dozen more roles on TV. So, for example, in the eighties he played the role of Wizard in the series "Alpha", dedicated to the adventures of a funny alien from a distant galaxy on our planet. And in 1993, in four episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space 9, he played the role of Enabran Thane, the brutal and merciless leader of Cardassian intelligence.
From 1994 to 1996, Dooley starred in more than twenty episodes of the sitcom "Grace on Fire" (here he embodied the image of John Shirley on the television screen). In addition, he later appeared as a guest in such series as "My So-Called Life", "Chubby", "Sabrina the Little Witch", "Millennium", "Clinic", "Desperate Housewives", etc. In 2000, Dooley was nominated for an Emmy for a guest role of the extravagant judge Philip Swackheim in the serial judicial drama The Practice (his character could be seen in eight episodes).
In recent years, despite his age, Dooley continues to work as a television actor. In 2017, he appeared in The Good Doctor, an episode titled 22 Steps. Here he played Glenn, an old man with a sick heart who wanted to break his pacemaker because he was tired of being in constant pain. And in 2018, Dooley starred in one of the episodes of the sitcom "The Kids Are Alright."
Paul Dooley in the movies
Dooley's career in American cinema began in the seventies. Among the films of this period, in which he took part, it is especially worth highlighting "The Wedding" - a black comedy from 1978 by the patriarch of American cinema, Robert Altman. Dooley had a small but memorable role here as Liam "Snooks" Brenner.
Just a year later, in 1979, Paul starred in the film "Going Away." Here he played a very worthy minor character named Ray Stoller. For this work, he even received an award from the National Council of Film Critics of the United States.
In 1980, Dooley starred in another film by Robert Altman - in the musical comedy Popeye. By the way, here he appeared in the frame together with Robin Williams, for whom the image of the sailor Popeye was actually the first major work in the cinema. Also among the significant roles Dooley played in the eighties is the role of Jim Baker in the teenage melodrama "Sixteen Candles" (1984) and the role of Roy in the movie "The Monster in the Closet" (1986).
In the same 1986, the actor was invited to play the role of a salesman in the film musical "Shop of Horrors". However, in the process of further work, it was decided to replace Paul Dooley with James Belushi, and all the scenes already filmed with him were deleted.
In the nineties, Dooley continued to act in films. Among other things, it is worth highlighting such paintings with his participation as "A Look into the Past" (1990), "Dangerous Woman" (1993), "Evolver" (1994), "There, Inside" (1995), "Runaway Bride" (1999).
In 2002, he had the opportunity to play a supporting role in the third feature-length film of the famous director Christopher Nolan called Insomnia (interestingly, this thriller itself, released in 2002, is a remake of the Norwegian film of the same name). Then there were a few more interesting appearances of Paul Dooley in the movies - for example, in the films "Hairspray" (2007), "Horsemen" (2009), "Thank you" (2011) and "Other people" (2016).
Other activities
Dooley was one of the main writers for the children's educational program The Electric Company, which was filmed for the American television station PBS. This program was aimed at helping primary school children develop their grammar and reading skills in an entertaining way. Its first issue was released in 1971.
Paul Dooley also co-founded All Over Creation with Andrew Duncan and Lynn Lipton, which specializes in creating commercials. About 1000 audio clips for radio and about 500 video clips for TV were released under the brand of this company. Some of them featured a character named Paul Gorilla. It is known that it is named after Dooley.
In addition, Dooley has proven himself to be a voice actor. It is in his voice in English dubbing that Sergeant speaks in the animated films Cars (2006), Cars 2 (2011) and Cars 3 (2017), created by Pixar. In addition to this, in 2013, he voiced the Snail Foreman in the cartoon from DreamWorks Animation "Turbo".
Personal life
Paul Dooley married for the first time on September 19, 1958 - Donna Lee Wasser. This marriage lasted about 25 years (until 1983), but still ended in divorce. Paul and Donna have three children together - Robin, Peter and Adam.
From 1984 to this day, Paul Dooley has been married to Winnie Holtzman, whom he met at an acting class in New York. From this marriage he has one daughter - Savannah. Paul and Winnie currently live in Los Angeles.
