Bio and news about Paul McKinney

Paul McKinney is a talented Los Angeles-based actor with an extensive resume. He has performed in numerous film and TV projects, over 25 plays, and dozens of commercials, voiceovers, and industrial films.

Click on the links above for more information.

Paul's first headshot.

Latest News

Paul in political ads for the Center for American Progress.

Paul recently shot two ads for the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that deals with progressive political issues. The ads are currently running on youtube, and can be seen HERE.

Paul's Sprint TV commercial now airing.

Paul recently shot a commercial for Sprint that is currently airing on network TV during sporting events. In the ad, Paul is a rabid fan in a blue wig who blasts a fellow fan with a coating of blue powder. Look for it on NBC, Fox, and CBS.

Paul's episode of Yes, Dear is now online.

A clip from the episode of the popular CBS sitcom in which Paul appears can be found here. In the episode, Paul plays an adult version of Logan, one of the young kids on the show in a dream sequence that Jimmy (Mike O'Malley) has.

Paul does his own short film!

Mementos, a short film which Paul wrote, produced, and starred in, has been screening at various film festivals nationwide. The film is a spoof of Memento, the Christopher Nolan thriller starring Guy Pearce.

Paul's voice permiates the airwaves...

Paul has done a whole new round of radio commercials airing in different cities nationwide. THIS ONE for Redbull is airing in Detroit, and THIS ONE for Cici's Pizza, a midwest pizza chain, is airing in Indianapolis. Both are in .mp3 format.

Paul's Budweiser commercial is now online

Paul recently shot a role in a Budweiser commercial...which unfortunately never aired. The commercial, directed by commercial guru Tim Cronenweth, was slated to be one of the True series that Anheiser Busch has done over the past few years. As often happens in advertising, spots are scrapped for one reason or another after they are produced. Click here to watch.

Paul gets Tapped Out

Paul plays Bobby Fireson, a neurotic record producer/attorney who works for rap star Coolio in the Artisan release Tapped Out. The film stars Kasan Butcher and '80s pop music star Georgio as two young rappers trying to make it in the music business. It is now available on DVD. Look for it at Amazon.com (you can also rent it on Netflix).

Paul does The First $20 Million

Paul has a small role in the recently released 20th Century Fox comedy feature The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest. Paul plays Griff, a gay engineer who hits on rival engineer Andy (Adam Garcia). The film is now available on DVD and video.

Paul does his patriotic duty for the US Military

Once again, Paul has recorded radio and television voiceovers for the American Forces Radio and Television Network, a media outlet for American military personell stationed across the globe. The spots are educational in nature, and are desinged to help overseas military personell cope with some of the difficulties they face.

Paul lends his voice to Disney amusement park

Disney's California Adventure is Disney's newest theme park located right next door to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. Paul's voice can be heard by park-goers as they wait in line to board The Grizzly River Run, an exciting water ride that simulates the raging waters of the rivers of California.

Latest news - Bio - Quotes

The real, true, and not-too-lengthy story of Paul McKinney, in Technicolor:

It started with an 8-track tape recorder. And a dream.
At the ripe old age of two, Paul was introduced to show business when his parents, Robert and Rhonda, sat him down in front of the family's hi-fi stereo system with a built-in 8-track tape recorder and microphone.

Paul instantly began entertaining his mom and dad with impersonations of the various TV celebrities that he'd been exposed to on network television of the 1970's...including Johnny Carson (to whom Paul is distantly related) Bob Barker, and Gerald Ford.
Paul at 2 Paul oozed style at a very early age.

Paul at 7 At age 7, Paul was given his own 8-track/record/stereo/hi-fi system, and regularly entertained the listeners of KPTL radio with his live renditions of popular Kenny Rogers' songs.

He also participated in his elementary school choir, and won the critics over as "Dr. Zarkov" in a 4th-grade production of "Flash Gordon". That's Paul on the left, not yet aware that he shouldn't allow himself to be upstaged by a boy in a cape. Flash, played by Ben Bramwell, is the guy with the glasses, and the lovely Kim Katafias is the ingenue Dale. Flash Gordon, 4th Grade

By the time he started high school, Paul was bitten hard by the acting bug. He took four years of drama classes, and performed in 14 plays in and out of school during that time.

Paul (r) and Spencer Strauss in "Brighton Beach Memoirs". He attended UC Davis, majored in theatre, and continued to work on the stage. He kept working during the summers, heading to Los Angeles to study (during one summer, Paul took classes in L.A. during the week, and flew to Northern California to do a play on the weekends). In his last year of college, he wrote and performed in a play that premiered at the ICA festival in Santa Cruz.

After college, Paul moved on to appear in over a dozen commercials and numerous industrial films. He moved to San Francisco, where he got his SAG card, performed in numerous independent film projects, and studied for 2 1/2 years with local coach Ed Hooks. He also workshopped with Pulitzer nominee Amy Freed on a play that she was reworking.
D.P. Damian Lucas peeks through his Arriflex and sees
Paul - in drag - during the filming of "Show Me Your Tattoo".

At the request of his San Francisco agent, Paul leapt into voiceover. Within a year he was hired byZDTV (click on the link for more info about ZDTV, now called Tech TV), a national cable network, to write scripts and provide the voice for a cartoon character who appeared in on-air promos for the network.

After leaving ZDTV, and against the advice of his wallet, Paul left his rent-controlled, 2-bedroom-with-a-garage-for-under-$1000 San Francisco apartment and made the move to Los Angeles.

Paul He has worked steadily since arriving in L.A. Starting as many actors do as a reader in casting offices, he continues to make numerous appearances in film and television (see resume for latest theatrical credits). He has also appeared in a number of TV commercials, produced his own short film titled Mementos, and continued to work in voiceover. He still studies when time permits with Larry Moss, Cynthia Szigeti and others.
And he's quite a bit taller than those 8-track days of yesterday.