Photo: Paul J. Alessi aka pjalessi / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Paul Dooley is the kind of actor I'd call the connective tissue of American film and television. Born in 1928 in West Virginia, he built a career most leading men would envy precisely by not being one. I love that younger audiences may only know his voice from the Cars films, while others remember him as the exasperated dad in Breaking Away or his deadpan work in Christopher Guest's mockumentaries. What I find genuinely impressive is that he co-created The Electric Company, so his fingerprints are on how a whole generation learned to read. That blend of character acting and creative authorship is rarer than people realize.
Overview
Paul Dooley (born Paul Brown; February 22, 1928) is an American character actor. He is known for his roles in Breaking Away, Popeye, Strange Brew, Sixteen Candles and various Christopher Guest mockumentaries. He co-created the PBS children's show The Electric Company.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Paul Dooley
- Name (Japanese)
- ポール・ドゥーリイ
- Reading
- ぽーる・どぅーりい
- Born
- February 22, 1928 (age 98)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Dragon
- Origin
- Parkersburg, West Virginia, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / voice actor / screenwriter / television actor / film actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- West Virginia University
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Cars | — |
6. Links
Actor — see all → · Voice actor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.