Dooley possessed a rich, deep, and warm voice that had a considerable amount of dramatic power and a wide vocal range.
[2] He was also well known in Germany for his interpretation of the role of Jago in Verdi's Otello which he sang in Bonn and many other German opera houses and abroad with great success.
[1] In 1966 Dooley notably sang the role of The Messenger of Keikobad in the Met's first production of Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten, and in 1976 he portrayed Marquis de la Force in the Met's first production of Francis Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites with Maria Ewing as Blanche de la Force.
His other roles during his career at the Met included the four villains in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Amonasro in Aida, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Pizarro in Fidelio, Escamillo in Carmen, Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier, the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo, John the Baptist in Salome, Mandryka in Arabella, the Music Master in Ariadne auf Naxos, Orest in Elektra, Rangoni in Boris Godunov, Scarpia in Tosca, the Speaker in The Magic Flute, and the title role in Wozzeck.
He returned to Salzburg two years later to portray the Captain of the Royal Guard in the world premiere of Hans Werner Henze's The Bassarids and the role of Escamillo in Carmen.
Dooley made two appearances with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company in 1968, portraying Wolfram von Eschenbach in Wagner's Tannhäuser with Jess Thomas in the title role and Count Almaviva to Pilar Lorengar's Countess.
In 1979 he portrayed the role of Pastor Oberlin in the world premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Jakob Lenz at the Hamburg State Opera.