26 Facts About Paul Dooley

Paul Dooley was born on Paul Brown; February 22,1928 and is an American character actor.

Paul Dooley is known for his roles in Breaking Away, Popeye, Strange Brew, Sixteen Candles and various Christopher Guest mockumentaries.

Paul Dooley co-created the PBS children's show The Electric Company.

Paul Dooley said that Parkersburg had few attractions that interested him, as there were not many cultural opportunities.

Paul Dooley enjoyed listening to comedians on the radio, especially Jimmy Durante.

Paul Dooley was a cartoonist as a youth and drew a strip for a local paper in Parkersburg.

Paul Dooley initially found work as a clown for children's birthday parties.

Paul 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, Paul Dooley assumed the role of Felix.

Paul 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, Paul 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.

Paul Dooley 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.

Paul Dooley wrote "runners", a series of short sketches with 8 or 10 characters that were broadcast over the course of several weeks.

Paul Dooley found out years later that Carl Reiner had recommended him for the job.

Some characters Paul Dooley created for The Electric Company included Easy Reader and Fargo North, Decoder, as well as the soap opera spoof Love of Chair.

Paul Dooley formed a company with Andrew Duncan and Lynne Lipton called All Over Creation to create commercials for radio and television.

Paul Dooley worked with Robert Altman regularly and is known as a prolific journeyman character actor.

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

Paul 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.

Paul Dooley has 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, Chicago Hope, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine where he played the recurring role of Enabran Tain.

Paul Dooley guest starred in other primetime shows like Bewitched, The Wonder Years, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Hot in Cleveland, and Desperate Housewives.

Paul 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 2010, Paul 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.

Paul Dooley co-wrote the play Assisted Living with his wife Winnie Holzman.

Paul Dooley has been married to Winnie Holzman, whom he first met at an improv acting class in New York, since November 18,1984.

Paul Dooley was previously married to Donna Lee Wasser on September 19,1958, which ended in divorce.

In 2022, Paul Dooley published his memoir, titled Movie Dad: Finding Myself and My Family, On Screen and Off.