Is understanding human behavior important to being a good actor? If so, then it's no surprise that Richard Paul is eminently qualified for his successful acting career. A native Californian with a BA in public affairs from Claremont Men's College, now Claremont McKenna College, Richard earned an MA in psychology from California State University at Los Angeles. He then began work toward a Ph. D. at the University of Arizona. The following years were a curious mixture of psychology and acting: from playing Doolittle in "My Fair Lady, " to traveling back and forth between Arizona, and Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, California, where he served his internship in Clinical Psychology, and worked as a staff psychologist. Falling in love in a mental hospital may seem unusual, but that is where he met his future wife Patty, a student worker there. He developed his own unique program there--acting lessons for the patients. At night, Richard went to L. A. 's radio station KPFK to appear on Firesign Theater. He worked on two albums with the group, "Roller Maidens from Outer Space" (playing Ozzie Nelson among several voices) and "As Time Flies, " now Firesign classics. No matter where he was working or studying during those years, Richard returned every summer to the Pomona Valley Shakespeare Festival directed by Jesse Swan first in Balch Auditorium at Scripps, then at Garrison Theater, where he immersed himself in the great characters of Falstaff, in Henry IV, part 1, Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet, Bottom in Midsummer Nights Dream, Baptista in Taming of the Shrew with the best Petruchio he's ever seen Mike Connolly, Arnolphe in the Amorous Flea, and a variety of other roles. In 1968 Richard married Patty, and together they spent the requisite early years struggling to make a living, with Richard doing commercials, voice-overs, and working on the doctorate--torn between two careers. The turning point came when Richard accepted a nine month road engagement starring in "W. C. Fields, 80 proof, " a two-man show. The die was cast, and with Patty's support, Richard chose a career as a performer, "A decision I've never regretted--well, only twice a week. " In the years that followed, Richard did a number of voice-overs for cartoons including Mickey Mouse and Uncle Remus for Disney. Early on-camera roles included "Maude, " "Mary Hartman, " and "Mitzi Gaynor's Roarin' in the Twenties, " where he reprised the Fields role. A lunch break interview during filming of a dog food commercial led to the costarring role of Mayor Teddy Burnside ("your mayor by a landslide") in ABC- TV's "Carter Country, " where his order to: "Handle it! Handle it!" became a national catch phrase. The series ran 2 years.
Richard Paul Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family
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