Paul Hanley (Peyton Place)

Paul Hanley is a fictional character on the television drama Peyton Place. He was portrayed by Richard Evans. He appeared in 26 episodes in 1965.

Character history
Paul is the younger brother of Elizabeth Hanley. When she got mysteriously killed, Paul's father Calvin persuaded his son to testify against Elliot Carson. Paul obayed his father and lied he witnessed Elliot murdering her, which eventually got Elliot sentenced to 15 years of jail. It turned out Elliot wasn't the murderer, but Catherine Harrington.

While onscreen, Paul befriended his student Allison MacKenzie and made clear he looked down on her romantic interest Rodney Harrington. He got into fights with Elliot several times after he was released from jail, over the truth about Elizabeth's murder. He also starts a riot with Constance MacKenzie, stating he knows she has slept with Elliot while in New York City eighteen years ago. The reason he does that, is that he has arranged a city trip with school to New York City, but Connie hasn't given her daughter Allison allowance to go. While this riot progresses, Paul's father Calvin collapses and dies.

Paul later gets confronted with testifying falsely against Elliot, when he finds Elizabeth's diary, stating her affair with Leslie Harrington. Paul is convinced Leslie killed Elizabeth and confronts him. He finally tells the mentally disturbed George Anderson his wife Julie Anderson has had an affair with him, making George angry. George grabs his gun and is ready to shoot Leslie, but accidentally shoots and wounds Elliot. The word soon spreads out Paul has got something to do with the shooting. Rodney Harrington, Leslie's son, confronts him with this, making Paul reveal he is certain Leslie has killed Elizabeth.

Leslie soon admits Catherine was the one who killed Elizabeth. At first, nobody believes him, which makes him leave Peyton Place. Paul is glad with the news, making Allison confront him with him always hurting other people. He finally admits wanting to become a better man, never to be heard from again and assumely left town.

Characterization
As Emily Toth explains, "a new character, Paul Hanley, dispenses wisdom about English literature..."