Charles Napier (actor)

Charles Napier
Napier in April 2008
Born	April 12, 1936(1936-04-12) Mt. Union, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	October 5, 2011(2011-10-05) (aged 75) Bakersfield, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1968–2011
Parents	Linus Pitts Napier, Sara Lena (nee Loafman) Napier

Charles L. Napier (April 12, 1936 – October 5, 2011) was an American actor, known for his portrayals of square-jawed tough guys and military types.

Early life

Napier was born in Mt. Union,^[1] Kentucky, the son of Sara Lena (née Loafman) (1897-?) and Linus Pitts Napier (1889-1991).^[2] After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1954, serving with the 11th Airborne Division and rising to the rank of sergeant.

After his service, he attended Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, graduating in 1961 with a major in art and minor in physical education. He wanted to be a basketball coach and his first job was as an assistant coach at his old high school. Soon after, he gave up coaching, eventually taking jobs with a bridge company and an advertising agency before moving to Clearwater, Florida to teach art at JFK Junior High School. In 1964, he returned to attend graduate school at Western Kentucky where he was encouraged to pursue acting by instructor D. Russell Miller. Following some success in the local Alley Playhouse, Napier moved back to Florida where he continued to teaching as well as act in community theater acting, eventually moving into Clearwater's Little Theatre as its live-in caretaker. During this time he also pursued another passion - painting.^[1]

After filming a trucker movie, Napier wrote articles and took pictures for Overdrive magazine for a few years until a major truck strike in 1973 sent him back to Hollywood. Napier was reduced to living in his car on a parking lot, and claims that one day a limo pulled up its driver said, "Are you Charles Napier? Mr. Hitchcock would like to see you." Napier was taken to Universal Studios to meet Alfred Hitchcock, and was placed under contract with Universal Studios.^[1]

In 1977, Napier was cast as frontier scout Luther Sprague in the six-episode NBC western television series, The Oregon Trail, with co-stars Rod Taylor, Andrew Stevens, Tony Becker, and Darleen Carr.

He also began making regular appearances in Jonathan Demme-directed movies, including The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia. Some of Napier's memorable roles include Murdock, the intelligence officer commanding Rambo in Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Tucker McElroy, lead singer and driver of the Winnebago for "The Good Ol' Boys" in The Blues Brothers (1980).

He also provided some of the Hulk's growls on 1970s television series The Incredible Hulk. (The others were done by Ted Cassidy.) He also guest starred on the series and in the 1989 telefilm The Incredible Hulk Returns. He appeared in two episodes of the 1980s hit TV series The A-Team once as Col. Briggs. He also co-starred in a couple of "The Rockford Files" episodes, and played Hammer, Greg Evigan's character's arch-nemesis, in the short-lived series "B. J. and the Bear" in the 1970s.

Napier as Wolfson Lucas was teamed with Rod Taylor again for the short lived series Outlaws which also featured Richard Roundtree and William Lucking in 1986.

He is well known among Star Trek fans for appearing on both Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Way to Eden" as musically inclined space hippie Adam, and the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Little Green Men" as General Denning. He also appeared in the pilot episode of Knight Rider in 1982.

From 1997–2000, he did voice work as General Hardcastle on Superman: The Animated Series produced by Warner Bros. and reprised the role in 2004 on Justice League.

Napier provided the voice for Duke Phillips, the Ted Turner-inspired network owner in the 1990s animated series The Critic. From 1997 through 2001, he provided the voice for Zed on Men in Black: The Series. He has also provided several guest voices for episodes of The Simpsons. He provided the voice for the Sheriff on Squidbillies for season one and episodes 201–203, although uncredited. He was replaced by Bobby Ellerbee.

He had a small role during the sixth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2008 as a barber who assaults and drives Larry David from his shop after David offends him.

Napier appeared in the 2009 horror film Murder World alongside Scout Taylor-Compton. His last film role was in the 2009 comedy The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard opposite Jeremy Piven and James Brolin.

Personal life

Napier died on October 5, 2011, after collapsing the previous day.^[3]He was 75 years old. The exact cause of death was not released, but Napier had been treated for blood clots in his legs in May 2010.^[4] Napier is survived by his second wife, Dee, and their young children. Hunter and Meghan, as well as by his son, Chuck, from a previous marriage, which had ended in divorce.^[1]

Filmography

• Cherry, Harry & Raquel! (1970)
• Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
• The Seven Minutes (1971)
• Supervixens (1975)
• Citizen's Band (1977)
• The Blues Brothers (1980) – Tucker McElroy
• Melvin and Howard (1980)
• The Dukes of Hazzard (1981)
• The Blue and the Gray (1982) (miniseries)
• Wacko (1982)
• Knight Rider (1982) (TV)
• China Lake (1983)
• Swing Shift (1984)
• In Search of a Golden Sky (1984)
• Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
• Instant Justice (1986)
• Outlaws (1986) (TV)
• Something Wild (1986)
• Camping del Terrore (1987)
• Deep Space (1988)
• Married to the Mob (1988)
• Hit List (1989)
• Ernest Goes to Jail (1990) – Warden
• Miami Blues (1990)
• Maniac Cop 2 (1990)
• The Grifters (1990)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)
• Philadelphia (1993)
• Body Bags (1993) (TV)
• Jury Duty (1995)
• 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995)
• The Cable Guy (1996)
• Steel (1997)
• Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
• Superman: The Animated Series (Voice) (1997) (TV)
• Beloved (1998)
• The Big Tease (1999)
• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
• Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)
• Roswell: Summer of '47 (2000) (TV) - Hal Carver
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) – Roy (Voice)
• The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
• DinoCroc (2004)
• Justice League (Voice) (2004) (TV)
• Lords of Dogtown (2005)
• Annapolis (2006)
• One-Eyed Monster (2008)
• Murder World (2009)
• The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "The Official Charles Napier Website". Illumina Productions. http://www.charlesnapier.com/index.htm. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
2. ^ Charles Napier profile at Film Reference.com
3. ^ New York Times obituary
4. ^ Notice of Napier's death in The Hollywood Reporter

Bibliography

• Paul, Louis (2008). "Charles Napier". Tales From the Cult Film Trenches; Interviews with 36 Actors from Horror, Science Fiction and Exploitation Cinema. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. pp. 180–185. ISBN 978-0-7864-2994-3. 

External links

• Charles Napier at the Internet Movie Database
• Charles Napier at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)

Persondata
Name	Napier, Charles L.
Alternative names
Short description	Actor
Date of birth	1936-04-12
Place of birth	Scottsville, Kentucky, United States
Date of death	2011-10-05
Place of death	Bakersfield, California, United States