That Guy Actor of the Week: Paul Dooley

For the 1099th time I found myself watching Sixteen Candles on television the other day.  And while I love Long Duck Dong and The Geek, there’s another character that I think goes unnoticed.  It’s the guy that plays Molly Ringwald in the movie.  There’s just something kind of funny about him.  And I realize this guy has been in tons of movies and in each on there is in fact something kind of funny about him.

His name is Paul Dooley.   First of all with 163 credits to his name clearly he’s worthy of making the cut for this column.  Second of all do you remember how awesome he was as the dad in Breaking Away?  I know most of you are too young to have seen that film but if you haven’t you must.  Basically he’s a blue collar man working at a used car dealership and he can’t stand his son’s obsession with cycling.  It’s a great flick.

Now Paul does lots of TV.  In fact I would say since 1985 the majority of his work has been in television.  Anyway, here’s to you Paul because we always recognize you it’s just that most of us don’t know your name.

Enjoy a classic clip of Dooley 

This is a funny scene from Breaking Away.  Dooley is awesome.