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Paul Dooley

Paul Dooley

41 movies on Netflix

Biography

Paul Dooley is an American character actor, comedian and television writer who began in New York after completing his studies at West Virginia State University in 1952. Born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, he first worked as a clown at children's birthday parties before making his New York stage debut in the early 1950s. Mike Nichols cast him in the 1965 Broadway production of The Odd Couple, where he played Homer Speed Deegan and later took over the role of Felix Unger. Dooley performed stand-up for five years, appeared on The Tonight Show, and was a member of the Compass Players and The Second City. He created and wrote for the PBS children's show The Electric Company. His film work includes Breaking Away (1979), Popeye (1980), Sixteen Candles (1984), Strange Brew (1983), Waiting for Guffman (1996) and the voice of Sarge in Cars (2006). He received an Emmy nomination in 2000 for The Practice.

98years old

Turns 99 on February 22in 131 days

  • Born Parkersburg
  • Star sign: PiscesThe sign runs February 19 to March 20

Movie Career

Films
41
Career span
53 years1968 to 2021

Genres

First and latest

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  1. Behind the camera

    Dooley also worked as a writer, creating The Electric Company and serving as one of its head writers. The show was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States, and he wrote runners, short sketches with 8 or 10 characters.

  2. About the name

    In high school, Dooley often worked at fairs as a clown called Dooley. During the mid-1950s, he made his surname legal to match that clown persona, since a Broadway actor already had the name Paul Brown.

  3. A change of course

    Dooley spent five years as a stand-up comedian and was part of the Compass Players and The Second City troupe in New York City, eventually landing on The Tonight Show.

  4. Big break

    After Robert Altman saw Dooley in the Jules Feiffer comedy Hold Me, Altman gave him a part in the film A Wedding. Dooley and Altman also co-wrote the film Health.

  5. Behind the camera

    Dooley, Andrew Duncan and Lynne Lipton formed a company called All Over Creation to make radio and television commercials. Together they turned out roughly 500 TV commercials and 1,000 radio spots.

Paul Dooley movies on Netflix

Best known for

The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.

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  1. Insomnia2002 Drama, Mystery, Thrilleras Chief Nyback

    IMDb rating 7.2352K votes

  2. Cars2006 Adventure, Animation, Comedyas Sargevoice

    IMDb rating 7.3549K votes

  3. Runaway Bride1999as Walter Carpenter

    IMDb rating 5.6112K votes

  4. Sixteen Candles1984as Jim Baker

    IMDb rating 7.0137K votes

  5. Popeye1980as Wimpy

    IMDb rating 5.438K votes

  6. Strange Brew1983as Claude Elsinore

    IMDb rating 6.620K votes

  7. Breaking Away1979as Dad

    IMDb rating 7.728K votes

  8. Sunshine Cleaning2008as Sherm

    IMDb rating 6.876K votes

Most often with

Robert Altman directed four of these films. Four actors appear in three of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.

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Robin Williams, 3 films togetherSee the 3 films with Robin WilliamsSteve Zahn, 3 films togetherSee the 3 films with Steve ZahnDonald Moffat, 3 films togetherSee the 3 films with Donald MoffatRichard Libertini, 3 films togetherSee the 3 films with Richard LibertiniDennis Hopper, 2 films togetherSee the 2 films with Dennis HopperDennis Quaid, 2 films togetherSee the 2 films with Dennis QuaidRobert AltmanDirector, 4 filmsSee the 4 films by Robert Altman

Films together

Box office

What Paul Dooley's films earned in cinemas worldwide.

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Combined worldwide box office

$1.4 billion

26 of the 41 films have a worldwide figure.

Of the 41 films: 26 worldwide figure; 3 us gross only; 3 never in cinemas; 9 figure not found.

  • 26Worldwide figure
  • 3US gross only
  • 3Never in cinemas
  • 9Figure not found

Top grosser

Cars2006as Sarge (voice)$462 million

Highest grossing

The eight biggest films earned 96% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.

  1. 1
    Cars2006as Sarge (voice)
    $462M32.8% of the total
  2. 2
    Runaway Bride1999as Walter Carpenter
    $310M22.0% of the total
  3. 3
    Turbo2013as The Foreman (voice)
    $283M20.1% of the total
  4. 4
    Insomnia2002as Chief Nyback
    $114M8.1% of the total
  5. 5
    Hairspray2007as Mr. Spritzer
    $90M6.4% of the total
  6. 6
    Popeye1980as Wimpy
    $50M3.5% of the total
  7. 7
    Sixteen Candles1984as Jim Baker
    $24M1.7% of the total
  8. 8
    Breaking Away1979as Dad
    $20M1.4% of the total
Sunshine Cleaning (2008), $16.2 millionKiss Me Goodbye (1982), $15.8 millionFlashback (1990), $6.5 millionMy Boyfriend's Back (1993), $3.3 millionWaiting for Guffman (1996), $2.9 millionHappy, Texas (1999), $1.9 millionStrange Brew (1983), $1.9 millionRaggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977), $1.5 millionEndangered Species (1982), $1.5 millionHorsemen (2009), $1.0 millionGuinevere (1999), $614,202Clockwatchers (1997), $537,948Madison (2005), $517,262Last Rites (1988), $426,965Telling Lies in America (1997), $318,809Shakes the Clown (1991), $115,103

$55.2 millionfrom the other 18 films with a worldwide figure, 4% of the total

Online

Official profiles and reference pages.

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