Charles Lewis Napier (April 12, 1936 – October 5, 2011) was an American actor who was known for playing supporting and occasional leading roles in television and films. He was frequently cast as police officers, soldiers, or authority figures, many of them villainous or corrupt. After leaving his Kentucky hometown to serve in the Army, he graduated from college and worked as a sports coach and art teacher before settling on acting as a career. His first prominent role in a film was in Cherry, Harry & Raquel! (1969), which was the first of four films he would do with director Russ Meyer. Napier established himself in character roles and worked steadily for the next 35 years. He made numerous collaborations with director Jonathan Demme, including roles in Something Wild (1986), Married to the Mob (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Philadelphia (1993), Beloved (1998), and The Manchurian Candidate (2004).
In 1958, after his service, he attended Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, 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 in Allen County, coaching under Allen County legend James Bazzell. 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 John F. Kennedy Junior High School.
In 1964, Napier returned to Western Kentucky to attend graduate school, where instructor D. Russell Miller encouraged him to pursue acting. Following some success in the local Alley Playhouse, Napier moved back to Florida where he continued to teach as well as act in community theater, eventually moving into Clearwater's Little Theatre as its live-in caretaker. During this time he also pursued painting.[1]
Career
After a spell in New York, Napier moved to California. He acquired an agent and a union card (for a bit part in Mission: Impossible). His film debut came about by accident. A girlfriend took Napier along when she went to audition for Russ Meyer, who cast Napier as the male lead in Cherry, Harry & Raquel!. (He was one of the few actors from Meyer films to go on and have a significant career.[3]) In addition to acting and helping with the cameras when setting up shots, he did stunts, make up and driving on the film. After the low budget Moonfire, he worked as a journalist and photographer for Overdrive magazine for a few years; a strike sent him back to Hollywood in 1975 where, at age 39, he was reduced to living in his car in the parking lot of Meyer's office with no money, work or agent. He was summoned to Universal Studios to meet Alfred Hitchcock (who had just seen a print of Supervixens) and Napier was given a one-year contract.[1]
Napier became a prolific character actor, appearing regularly in TV series of the time, and a number of pilots. Frequently cast as a heavy, he often portrayed corrupt cops, soldiers, businessmen and other authority figures. In 1977, he was cast as frontier scout Luther Sprague in the six-episode NBCwesterntelevision series, The Oregon Trail. He appeared in three episodes of the 1980s hit TV series The A-Team as Col. Briggs. Also a bit part as Jarret in Labour Pains He also co-starred in two The Rockford Files episodes, and played Hammer in the series B.J. and the Bear in the 1970s. Napier as Wolfson Lucas was teamed with Rod Taylor again for the series Outlaws. He is known among Star Trek fans for appearing on both Star Trek: The Original Series episodes "The Way to Eden" as musically inclined space hippie Adam, and the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Little Green Men" as General Denning.[4] He also appeared in the pilot episode of Knight Rider in 1982.[5]
Citizen's Band director Jonathan Demme was laudatory about Napier's abilities, and went on to cast him in several of his films including The Silence of the Lambs and, in what was Napier's favourite role of his career, a judge in Philadelphia. He played the bureaucratic CIA officer Marshall Murdock in Rambo: First Blood Part II. In the 1980 musical-comedy The Blues Brothers, he portrayed the apoplectic Tucker McElroy, "lead singer of and driver of the Winnebago" for "The Good Ol' Boys."[6]
Prior to his death in October 2011, Napier published a book about his life and experiences in Hollywood, titled Square Jaw and Big Heart.[5][6]
Personal life
Napier was married twice. His first wife was Delores Wilson. After his divorce, he married Dee Napier.[2] Napier and his wife appeared on Dr. Phil in 2003 to discuss his obsession with being famous.[7] According to the Dr. Phil Show website, "Despite appearing in close to 100 films and countless hit TV shows, Charles Napier says he's depressed he's not a big star. His wife, Dee, says that instead of becoming upset when he gets rejected for a part, Charles should be grateful and proud of his 35-year career. She also thinks it's time he started making the family, not the pursuit of fame, his priority."
Napier and his second wife had two children, son Hunter and daughter Meghan Saralena. Napier also had one son, Charles Lewis "Chuck" Napier Jr., from his previous marriage.[1]
Death
Napier died in Bakersfield, California, on October 5, 2011, after having collapsed the previous day.[8] He was 75 years old. The exact cause of death was not released, but Napier had been treated for deep vein thrombosis in his legs in May 2010.[9]
^ abcdefgh"Charles Napier (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved January 24, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
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. ISBN978-0-7864-2994-3.
