Jeff Doucette

Jeff Doucette (born November 25, 1947) is an American television and film actor. Doucette has appeared in over 92 films and television series which include Splash, All The Way, The Dentist 2, Desperate Housewives, Weird Science, and Newhart. He has been used as a voice actor in a number of animated movies.

Doucette grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the second of eight children from Elizabeth (Betty Andres) Doucette and William (Bill) Doucette. He attended Marquette University High School, and then went on to college at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, where he became the first Theater Major and helped build the theater and the theater program, He went on to graduate school for Theater at Northern Illinois University.

In 1974, he moved to Chicago and joined the Second City Touring Company, met his future comedy partner Ernst Emling, and formed the comedy team of Jeff and Ernst. Within two months they were signed by William Morris Agency and touring the country with legendary folk singer, Bob Gibson, and opening in larger venues for acts like Barry Manilow and The Spinners. In 1976 they moved to Los Angeles, and joined other young comics including Freddie Prinze, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Richard Lewis, Robin Williams, Michael Keaton, Jim Varney, and Andy Kaufman in building the foundation for the comedy boom of the 1980s. After many appearances on variety and talk shows, in 1977 they made their first appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

In his long career Doucette has made somewhere around 40 films and over two hundred TV appearances. In commercials, Doucette has been the face of Ben Franklin in ads for Chevy Volt, Quicken Loans, Ballpark’s Finest Hot Dogs, and El Monterrey breakfast foods, and a special appearance as Ben Franklin on Mike and Molly. You also might have recognized him in one of his many regular and recurring roles including on Desperate Housewives as Eva Longoria’s long suffering priest, Fr. Crowley; in Newhart as the loveable loser, Harley Estin; on Alien Nation as the obnoxious tabloid reporter Jed Burns; in Townies as Steve, the fisherman without a clue; and on Weird Science as Al Wallace, the Homer Simpson-esque father whose son invents a cyber girl. He has also recurred on Dog With A Blog, Third Rock From The Sun, E/R, That '70s Show, and Beverly Hills 90210, and has guest starred on too many shows to mention.

Doucette is also a writer and director, having written two plays, Big Head Women, and Without Annette an improvisational comedy, which was published by PlayScripts Inc in 2015.

In addition to acting, writing, and directing, Doucette and his wife, Saba, are both licensed spiritual practitioners and Jeff teaches seminars and workshops that explores the philosophy and practice of Living in the Now through Improvisation.

In 1991, he received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Lead Performance for "Rage, or I'll Be Home For Christmas" at the Alliance Theater in Burbank. Ih 2014, he received the lifetime achievement award of the International Student Film Festival Hollywood (ISFFH)

He also played the main antagonist in the Bollywood film Hisss, and played the role of the panicky bladder in the Disney World attraction Cranium Command.

Film

 * Splash (1984, as Junior)
 * Yogi the Easter Bear (1994, as Ernest)
 * The Rage (1997, as Dr. Arnold)
 * Dr. Dolittle (1998, as Opossum)
 * The Dentist 2 (1998, as Jeremy Wilkes)
 * Karla (2006, as Burroughs' Partner)
 * Hiss (2010, as George States)

Television

 * E/R (1984, 6 episodes, as Bert the Paramedic)
 * Newhart (1984–1988, 16 episodes, as Harley Estin)
 * Alien Nation (1989–1990, 14 episodes, as Burns)
 * Townies (1996, 5 episodes, as Steve Baker)
 * Weird Science (1994–1997, 8 episodes, as Al Wallace)
 * God, the Devil and Bob (2000–2011, 13 episodes, as Smeck)
 * Desperate Housewives (2004–2010, 10 episodes, as Father Crowley)
 * Random! Cartoons (2008, 1 episode, as Ivan the Unbearable)
 * My Life as a Teenage Robot (2009, 1 episode, as Glen)
 * Dog with a Blog (2012–2015, 3 episodes, as Phil Trummer)
 * Mike & Molly (2015, 1 episode, as Ben Franklin)
 * Girl Meets World (2016, 1 episode, as Mr. Norton)