Paul Sorensen

Paul Sorensen (May 1, 1926 - July 17, 2008) was an American film, theater and television actor who appeared in literally hundreds roles during his career, including "The Brady Bunch" and "Dallas". cite news |first=|last=|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117989328.html?categoryId=25&cs=1|title=Actor Paul Sorensen dies at 82 |work= Variety Magazine |publisher=|date=2008-07-22 |accessdate=2008-08-12] He was frequently cast in Westerns or as a police officer.

Sorenson was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He moved to Hollywood, California, in 1945 and enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse. He graduated from the Playhouse two years later in 1947. (He was honored by the Pasadena Playhouse with a lifetime achievement award later in his life.) Sorenson served with the United States military during the Korean War. He returned to California following the war and continued acting. A talent agent signed Sorenson after watching him perform in a theater production of "Born Yesterday". As a result, Sorensen was cast in his first television in a 1954 series, "Stories of the Century".

One of Sorensen's best known characters was a recurring role as Andy Bradley, a member of an oil cartel, on "Dallas". He also appeared in recurring television roles in "The Brady Bunch", "Barnaby Jones" and "My Three Sons". His television career, which spanned from the 1950s to the 1980s also included work on the "Mary Tyler Moore Show", "My Favorite Martian", "The Rockford Files" and "The Mod Squad". Sorensen was often cast in Television Westerns. His credits in this particular television genre included "Rifleman", "Rin Tin Tin", "Gunsmoke", "Have Gun Will Travel", "High Chaparral", "Cheyenne", "Wagon Train", "The Virginian" and "Big Valley".

Sorensen's film credits included "Hang 'em High" and "Escape to Witch Mountain".

Off screen, Sorensen and 24 other actors joined together to found the Orchard Gables Repertory Theater group, which Time Magazine has praised as "an oasis in the heart of Hollywood." Sorensen and his late wife, Jacqueline May, also ran The Original Actors Workshop. Sorensen retired from acting during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He and his wife and their son, Christian, all became ordained ministers.

Paul Sorensen died on July 17, 2008, in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, at the age of 82. He was survived by his two sons, a sister and a grandson. Sorensen and his late wife, Jacqueline May, who died on November 14, 2002, were married in September 1957 and remained together for 45 years.

References

External links

*