---
name: "Paul Willson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/paul-willson"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "25 December 1945"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 83
updated: "2026-09-16T21:21:03.279884+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Paul Willson

Actor. Born 25 December 1945 in Fairmont, Minnesota, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 25 December 1945, Fairmont, Minnesota, USA
- **Active:** 1985–1999

## Biography

Paul Willson is an American actor born on 25 December 1945 in Fairmont, Minnesota. He was raised in San Francisco and attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where he began performing in improvisational theatre. He is a member of the Off The Wall improvisational theatre group.

Willson is known for his recurring role as Paul Krapence on the television series *Cheers* (1982–1993) and its spin-off *Frasier*, and as Leonard Smith on *It's Garry Shandling's Show* (1986–1990). His film credits include *The Goodbye Girl* (1977) and *Office Space* (1999), in which he played Bob Porter. He has appeared in numerous other television series, including *The Big Bang Theory*, *The Mentalist* and *Malcolm in the Middle*.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Office Space* (1999), Fi1m 80, as Bob Porter — [page](https://film.one/film/office-space.md)
- *Moonlighting* (1985), Fi1m 82, as Hotel Desk Clerk — [page](https://film.one/tv/moonlighting.md)
- *The Golden Girls* (1985), Fi1m 88, as Arthur Nivingston — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-golden-girls.md)

## Also known for

- *The Big Bang Theory* (2007), Professor Sharpe
- *Malcolm in the Middle* (2000), Ed
- *The Mentalist* (2008), Paul Jenkins
- *Full House* (1987), Stu
- *Star Trek: Voyager* (1995), Loquar
- *The Newsroom* (2012), Dr. Dwayne Sotter
- *The King of Queens* (1998), Sales Guy
- *Problem Child 2* (1991), Smith

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/paul-willson