Paul LaGreca was born in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx, New York, and later raised in Closter, New Jersey. He began his career in the performing arts at a young age, taking up ballet and tap dancing at the age of 9 and memorizing the entire Wizard of Oz by the time he was 5.
After high school, Paul studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where he was spotted by a faculty member and asked to play a role in a touring production of "On Golden Pond". He received his Actors Equity card and later his Screen Actors Guild card with his first commercial for Bubble Yum.
Paul's career in Hollywood began in 1983, with guest appearances on major network TV shows such as Airwolf, Knight Rider, and Whiz Kids, as well as co-starring roles in films like Big Trouble and Student Confidential. He worked with some of the industry's greatest talents, including Alan Arkin, Peter Falk, Beverly D'Angelo, and Sidney Lumet.
However, in 1985, Paul's life took a dramatic turn when he met Mother Teresa. She invited him to experience the life of a missionary, and Paul decided to leave his acting career behind to explore a vocation to the priesthood. He entered the seminary of the Missionaries of Charity in New York and worked with the poorest of the poor in the city's slums. After a time, Paul decided to leave the seminary and continued his studies outside, completing his B.A. in Philosophy at Saint Thomas Aquinas College and his M.A. in Theology at Seton Hall University.
In 2020, Paul published his memoir, "The Boy Behind the China Cabinet: A Memoir about Addiction, Hollywood, Mother Teresa and Me", which won the 2021 Reader's Favorite Gold Medal Award for Non-Fiction Inspiration and the 2021 Kindle Award in the Memoir category.
After exploring his life and venturing into new pursuits, Paul returned to his acting career in 2024 and continues to live by the philosophy that life is a great gift with unlimited possibilities.
