Biography
Richard Paul (June 6, 1940 – December 25, 1998) was an American actor born in Los Angeles, California. Known for his ability to mimic a wide range of American and foreign dialects, he possessed a tenor voice and trained under Lee Sweetland. Paul earned a B.A. in public affairs from Claremont Men's College and an M.A. in psychology from California State University, Los Angeles. He was nearing the completion of his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Arizona in Tucson but chose to abandon his therapy career to pursue full-time acting.
During the filming of a 1977 episode of The Love Boat, Slim Pickens nicknamed him "Pige Paul" after local pigeons soiled a new suit jacket. In 1980, he guest-starred on the ABC comedy One In A Million, which lasted only one season. Throughout the 1980s, Paul frequently appeared as a panelist on Match Game. Between 1977 and 1979, he played Mayor Teddy Burnside in Carter Country and later took on the recurring role of Mayor Sam Booth in Murder, She Wrote.
He portrayed Dr. Bob Halyers in the 1978 WKRP in Cincinnati episode "Clean Up Radio Everywhere," chosen for his resemblance to Rev. Jerry Falwell. Paul also portrayed Falwell twice: in the 1990 TV movie Fall From Grace about Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and in the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt.
Paul appeared in the cult classic film Eating Raoul (1982), written and directed by Paul Bartel. That same year, he co-starred in the short-lived sitcom Herbie, the Love Bug. He also featured in Bartel's short film The Secret Cinema, a self-referential fantasy included in the Amazing Stories TV series, as well as in Not for Publication, another Bartel project.
He was actively involved in charitable work, volunteering with Actors and Others for Animals, serving on the Mental Health Advisory Board of Los Angeles County, assisting at childhood immunization clinics for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, and reading books onto tapes by special request at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles.
Paul married Patty Oestereich in 1968 in Pasadena, California. They remained married for 30 years until his death from cancer at age 58 on Christmas Day 1998 at their home in Studio City, California.
