- published: 11 Sep 2015
- views: 4763
Paul David Graf (April 16, 1950 – April 7, 2001) was an American actor, best known for his role as Sgt. Eugene Tackleberry in the Police Academy series of films. He married Kathryn Graf in 1985; they had two sons, Daniel and Sean.
Graf was born in Lancaster, Ohio, and fell in love with the stage when he starred in his senior class play, then studied theatre at Otterbein College in Westerville, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio where he graduated in 1972. He attended graduate school at Ohio State University until 1975, when he dropped out to pursue his acting career.
Graf made his first television appearance as a contestant on the game show The $25,000 Pyramid in December 1979, where he teamed with actress Patty Duke. (He would later appear on subsequent versions of the show as a celebrity guest, twice with Duke.) As a struggling actor in the early 1980s, he also took small roles in popular sitcoms, including M*A*S*H, The Dukes of Hazzard, and The A-Team.
He made his film debut in 1981 when he played Gergley in the drama Four Friends. Graf later played the trigger-happy Cadet Eugene Tackleberry (later Sgt. Tackleberry) in the 1984 comedy Police Academy, and starred in each of six sequels. In 1992, Graf returned to play a minor role as a police officer again for the comedy series Seinfeld during its fourth season episode "The Ticket" and also appeared on Night Court. He played Tackleberry for the final time in a guest appearance on the short-lived Police Academy: The Series.