Paul Brinegar (December 19, 1917 - March 27, 1995) was an American character actor.
Brinegar made over 100 appearances between 1946 and 1994, appearing in many western films, and played the barman in Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter in 1973. He was best known for his long-running role as the cook, George Washington Wishbone, on the CBS series Rawhide from 1959 to 1966, which also starred Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood. He had played Tom Jefferson Jeffrey in the 1958 movie Cattle Empire upon which Rawhide was based. Prior to that he played mayor Jim "Dog" Kelly in the Western TV series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp appearing 21 times from 1956 to 1958. In 1959 he also played Ludwig, the bartender, in the episode "The Ringer" of the Western TV Series The Texan. In 1969, he appeared in the Western Charro! starring Elvis Presley.
The role of Wishbone was loosely carried over into the 1968-1970 CBS western series Lancer in which Brinegar played Jelly Hoskins. His co-stars were Andrew Duggan, James Stacy, and Wayne Maunder.
In the early 1980s Brinegar played an occasional humorous cowboy-like character, "Lamar Pettybone" during the first season of ABC's TV series Matt Houston
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