Paul Dooley

Dooley was born Paul Brown on February 22, 1928, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, the son of Ruth Irene (née Barringer), a homemaker, and Pete James Brown, a factory worker.{{cite news |last1=Van Gelder |first1=Lawrence |title=Paul Dooley, a Household Theatrical Face, Gets Used to Being a Name, Too |work=The New York Times |date=July 23, 1979 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/23/archives/paul-dooley-a-household-theatrical-face-gets-used-to-being-a-name.html |access-date=June 1, 2022 |url-access=subscription}}

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. 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.{{cite book|title=Movie Dad: Finding Myself and My Family, On Screen and Off|author=Dooley, Paul|isbn=978-1493063079|publisher=Applause Books, New York City|date=2022|page=55}}{{cite book|title=Movie Dad: Finding Myself and My Family, On Screen and Off|author=Dooley, Paul|isbn=978-1493063079|publisher=Applause Books, New York City|date=2022|page=77}}

Dooley was a cartoonist as a youth and drew a strip for a local paper in Parkersburg. In 1946, he joined the United States Navy and served for two years before returning home and graduating from West Virginia University in 1952.

After graduation, 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. 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, who played Oscar Madison in the play.

Also having an interest in comedy, Dooley was a stand-up comedian 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.{{cite news |last=Friedlander |first=Whitney |title=Wicked Writer Winnie Holzman and Her Husband Paul Dooley Wrote and Star in a Play Together. It Only Took Them 28 Years |url=https://www.laweekly.com/wicked-writer-winnie-holzman-and-her-husband-paul-dooley-wrote-and-star-in-a-play-together-it-only-took-them-28-years/ |access-date=October 29, 2021 |newspaper=LA Weekly |date=March 29, 2013}}

Dooley also worked as a writer. He created and was one of the head writers on The Electric Company, produced by the Children's Television Workshop 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) 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.

Dooley has appeared in such films as Sixteen Candles, Popeye, Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure, Breaking Away, Runaway Bride, and the voice of Sarge in the Disney/Pixar films Cars, Cars 2 and Cars 3.

He worked with Robert Altman regularly and is known as a prolific journeyman character actor.{{cite web |title=Paul Dooley |url=http://www.biography.com/people/paul-dooley-224922 |work=Biography |access-date=January 4, 2014 |archive-date=January 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104212923/http://www.biography.com/people/paul-dooley-224922 |url-status=dead }} After Altman saw Dooley in the Jules Feiffer comedy Hold Me, he signed him for a role in his film A Wedding.{{cite web |title=Paul Dooley |url=http://www.filmbug.com/db/256997 |work=Film Bug |access-date=January 4, 2014}}

He and Altman co-wrote the film Health.

He was also in the director's cut of Little Shop of Horrors, but was replaced by Jim Belushi in the final cut.

Dooley has worked with Christopher Guest 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.

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, 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, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Hot in Cleveland, and Desperate Housewives. With Rita Moreno, he appeared in The Golden Girls episode "Empty Nests" which had been intended to be a backdoor pilot for what would eventually become Empty Nest.{{cite web |url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/TheGoldenGirlsS02E026EmptyNests |title=Recap / The Golden Girls S 02 E 026 Empty Nests |work=TVTropes |access-date=June 15, 2023}} Dooley starred in the short-lived comedy about a couple living in an Arizona retirement community, Coming of Age, opposite veteran actors Phyllis Newman, Glynis Johns and Alan Young. In 2000, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as an eccentric judge on The Practice.

In 2010, Dooley played the part of the head chef at Camp Victory, a fictional fat camp, on the short-lived ABC Family original series Huge, which was created and written by his wife and daughter.{{cite news |last=Hale |first=Mike |title=A Close-Knit Team on a Plus-Size Show |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/arts/television/20huge.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |access-date=January 4, 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 18, 2010}}

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.{{cite web |last=Sepinwall |first=Alan |title=Review: 'Parenthood' - 'Promises' |url=https://uproxx.com/sepinwall/review-parenthood-promises-seeing-you-seeing-me/ |work=Uproxx |access-date=October 29, 2021 |date=January 2, 2014}}

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.

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.{{cite news |last=Gans |first=Andrew |title=EXCLUSIVE: Assisted Living, New Play By Wicked's Winnie Holzman and Husband Paul Dooley, Will Debut in April |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/exclusive-assisted-living-new-play-by-wickeds-winnie-holzman-and-husband-paul-dooley-will-debut-in-april-com-202726 |magazine=Playbill |access-date=October 29, 2021 |date=February 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603090421/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/175218-EXCLUSIVE-Assisted-Living-New-Play-By-Wickeds-Winnie-Holzman-and-Husband-Paul-Dooley-Will-Debut-in-April |archive-date=June 3, 2013}}

Dooley has been married to Winnie Holzman,{{cite web|url=https://www.dailynews.com/2023/02/02/paul-dooley-became-movie-dad-even-as-his-own-children-disappeared-for-a-decade/|title=Paul Dooley became 'Movie Dad' even as his own children disappeared for a decade|author=Larsen, Peter|website=DailyNews.com|date=February 2, 2023 |publisher=Los Angeles Daily News|access-date=February 2, 2023}} whom he first met at an improv acting class in New York, since November 18, 1984. The couple have a daughter Savannah{{cite web|last=Pollak|first=Kevin|title=Episode 96 – Paul Dooley and Winnie Holzman! |url=http://www.hulu.com/watch/318276|work=Kevin Pollak's Chat Show |access-date=January 4, 2014|date=January 17, 2011}} and live in Toluca Lake in Los Angeles.{{cite news|last=Nichols|first=David|title= Review: 'Assisted Living' at the Odyssey Theatre|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-xpm-2013-apr-09-la-et-cm-assisted-living-20130409-story.html|access-date=October 29, 2021|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=April 10, 2013}}

Dooley was previously married to Donna Lee Wasser on September 19, 1958, which ended in divorce. He has three children from his first marriage.{{cite web |title=Dooley, Paul 1928– |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/dooley-paul-1928 |website=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=June 1, 2022}}

In 2022, Dooley published his memoir, titled Movie Dad: Finding Myself and My Family, On Screen and Off.{{cite book|title=Movie Dad: Finding Myself and My Family, On Screen and Off|author=Dooley, Paul|isbn=978-1493063079|publisher=Applause Books, New York City|date=2022}}

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• [https://www.pauldooleyactor.com/ Official website]
• {{IMDb name|233209}}

{{Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast}}

{{National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor}}

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Category:1928 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:American male comedians

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male stage actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:American male voice actors

Category:Comedians from West Virginia

Category:Male actors from West Virginia

Category:Military personnel from Parkersburg, West Virginia

Category:People from Toluca Lake, Los Angeles

Category:United States Navy sailors