Paul Eagle(1926-2017)

Paul Eagle was born in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, N.Y. on August 20, 1926. During World War 2 Paul enlisted in the Navy at age 17. He was made a Corpsman and was for part of his service stationed on the Destroyer Tender, the U.S.S. Alcor. Paul had a lifelong fascination with the movies and the theater. His favorite actor growing up was the great Paul Muni. Eagle was entranced with Muni's ability to transform himself from role to role. It was a standard of excellence that Paul would try to hold himself to when he began to act in local community and summer stock theaters years later when Paul was in his thirties. He would often look for the character roles that would allow him to move into a whole new personality, often priding himself on his skill with accents and various characterizations. Some of his favorite theater roles were as Brigadier General Clifton Garnet in "The Command Decision", Felix Ducotel in "My Three Angels" and the abortionist Kurt Schneider (referred to as Karl in the film) in "Detective Story". Later in life when Paul retired from 30 years of work as a salesman for "General Cigar", Paul decided to take the serious step of trying to become a professional actor (his credits being noted in his filmography). One additional credit he had was on the soap, "The Guiding Light", where he played the character, "Smitty" in January of 1994. Ever striving to learn his craft Paul took classes at H.B. Studios where he studied with Bill Hickey and Sandy Dennis. Paul also worked in print and commercials and he always kept his hand in the theater having performed a number of roles at various local New Jersey theaters such as the Pax Amicus Theater Castle in Budd Lake, N. J. Unfortunately illness eventually prevented Paul from continuing his acting dream, but at a relatively advanced age, he did finally succeed in becoming a working actor. No small achievement in a highly competitive and meaningful art-form that so many unsung artists achieve from hard work on their craft and the determination to work. Paul passed away from natural causes on November 29, 2017 having been a father to six children and grandfather to 12 grandchildren. He was married for over 48 years to the love of his life, Muriel.