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 A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or othe ...

'' series of films.

Early life and education

Graf was born in

Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...

, and later moved to

Lancaster, Ohio Lancaster ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, in the south-central part of the state. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 40,552. The city is near the Hocking River, about southeast of Columbus and southwest of Zanesville. It is ...

, and graduated from Lancaster High School. He studied

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

Otterbein College Otterbein University is a private university in Westerville, Ohio. It offers 74 majors and 44 minors as well as eight graduate programs. The university was founded in 1847 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ and named for United Bre ...

in Westerville, a suburb of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, where he graduated in 1972. He attended

graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

until 1975, when he dropped out to pursue his acting career.

Acting career

Graf made his first television appearance as a contestant on the

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

The $20,000 Pyramid ''Pyramid'' is the collective name of a series of American television game shows that has aired several versions domestically and internationally. The original series, ''The $10,000 Pyramid'', debuted on March 26, 1973, and spawned seven subsequ ...

'' in December 1979, where he teamed with actress

Patty Duke Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Aw ...

. He would later appear on subsequent versions of the show as a celebrity contestant, twice with Duke. As a struggling actor in the early 1980s, he also took small roles in popular TV shows, including ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. Th ...

'', ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television serie ...

'', ''

Airwolf ''Airwolf'' is an American action military drama television series that centers on a high-technology military helicopter, code-named ''Airwolf'', and its crew. The show follows them as they undertake various exotic missions, many involving e ...

'', ''

Hardcastle and McCormick ''Hardcastle and McCormick'' is an American action crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 18, 1983, through May 5, 1986. The series stars Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and rac ...

'' and ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court ma ...

''. He made his film debut in 1981 when he played Gergley in the drama '' Four Friends''. Graf later played the trigger-happy Eugene Tackleberry in the 1984 comedy ''

'', and starred in each of the sequels. In 1986, Graf had a role as Councilman Harlan Nash on the short-lived sitcom ''

He's the Mayor ''He's the Mayor'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from January 10 to March 21, 1986. It stars Kevin Hooks as a 25-year-old man who is elected mayor of his hometown. Cast and characters *Kevin Hooks as Mayor Carl Burke *Al Fann as Alvi ...

''. In 1990, Graf appeared in the final two episodes of the series

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

. In 1992, Graf returned to play a minor role as a police officer again for the comedy series ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'' during its fourth-season episode " The Ticket" and also appeared on ''

Night Court ''Night Court'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984 to May 31, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan municipal court presided over by a young, unorthodox judge, Harold "Harry" T. Stone (portray ...

''. He played Tackleberry for the final time in a guest appearance on the short-lived '' Police Academy: The Series''. Also in November 1992, Graf appeared on ''

Family Matters ''Family Matters'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC on September 22, 1989, and ended on May 9, 1997. However it moved to CBS, where it was shown from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of '' Perfect Strangers ...

'' where he played Sgt. Shiska. Graf made various guest appearances following his role in the ''Police Academy'' series, including a repeating part in ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

'', several appearances in '' Star Trek: Voyager'' episode (" The 37s") and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''. In the latter series, he played a

Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a fictional species in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the original ''Star Trek'' (''TOS'') series, Klingons were swarthy humanoids c ...

called Leskit in the fifth-season episode " Soldiers of the Empire". Graf was Lt. Weismann in the movie '' Suture'' in 1993 and Ralph Brinker in the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

movie ''

Brink! ''Brink!'' is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie that depicts the sport of aggressive inline skating. Written by Jeff Schechter and directed by Greg Beeman, the film stars Erik von Detten as Andy "Brink" Brinker, a high school inline skater w ...

'' in 1998. Graf made a guest appearance in an episode of the short-lived ABC sitcom '' Teen Angel'' as a camp leader for Steve Beauchamp's little sister Katie, in the 1997-1998 season. In 2000, he made an appearance on ''

The Amanda Show ''The Amanda Show'' is an American live action sketch comedy and variety show television series created by Dan Schneider that aired on Nickelodeon from October 16, 1999 to September 21, 2002. It starred Amanda Bynes, Drake Bell, and Nancy ...

'' as a paramedic who accidentally swapped pagers with

Amanda Bynes Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American actress, known for her work in television and film throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Bynes began her career as a child actress, working on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series ''All That'' ( ...

. He also made an appearance on '' Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' season 2 episode 20 as a reporter for the Daily Planet. Graf had a small role in 1995's ''

The Brady Bunch Movie ''The Brady Bunch Movie'' is a 1995 American comedy film that parodies the 1969–1974 television series ''The Brady Bunch''. The film was directed by Betty Thomas, with a screenplay by Laurice Elehwany, Rick Copp, and Bonnie and Terry Turner, an ...

'', portraying Alice's boyfriend Sam Franklin, the butcher. In 1996, Graf made a guest appearance in ''

Promised Land The Promised Land ( he, הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ''ha'aretz hamuvtakhat''; ar, أرض الميعاد, translit.: ''ard al-mi'ad; also known as "The Land of Milk and Honey"'') is the land which, according to the Tanakh (the Hebrew ...

'', which was a spinoff of ''

Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced ...

''. He played the role of a grieving husband whose wife died while working for a company and he went there trying to find answers to her death. Graf guest starred in several episodes of ABC's sitcom '' Step By Step'' in the 1990s. He also starred in the second episode of the third season of ABC's ''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

'' as angler Chuck Norwood. Some of his last acting performances were two guest appearances as

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

staff member Colonel Chase in the series ''

'' (" The Drop-In" and " The Portland Trip") and as Jacques Douche in the ''

Son of the Beach ''Son of the Beach'' is an American sitcom that aired from March 14, 2000, to October 1, 2002, on FX. The series is a spoof of ''Baywatch'', with much of the comedy based on sexual double entendres, puns, innuendo and the like. A major running g ...

'' TV series episode "Grand Prix". Graf's last acting role was the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

sitcom ''

'', just three months before his death.

Screen Actors Guild

Besides his acting, Graf was a respected representative of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

. As well as serving as a Hollywood union rep, he was on SAG's national board, TV-theatrical steering committee, and national disciplinary review committee. Graf sought fair treatment for his fellow actors and actresses, which included efforts for better working conditions for the acting community.

Personal life

Graf married Kathryn Graf in 1983. They had two sons.

Death

While attending his brother-in-law's wedding in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

with his wife and two sons, Graf died from a sudden

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on April 7, 2001, nine days before his 51st birthday. His funeral was attended by many cast members from the ''Police Academy'' films. Graf is buried at Forest Rose Cemetery in

Filmography

References

External links

*
MSN Entertainment: Biography of David Graf

Yahoo! Movies: David Graf
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graf, David 1950 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors burials in Ohio contestants on American game shows male actors from Ohio Ohio State University alumni Otterbein University alumni people from Lancaster, Ohio people from Zanesville, Ohio