Alan Napier | |
|---|---|
 Napier in 1949 | |
| Born | Alan William Napier-Clavering (1903-01-07)7 January 1903 King's Norton,Birmingham, England |
| Died | 8 August 1988(1988-08-08) (aged 85) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Cremated; ashes scattered in the garden of his home inPacific Palisades, California |
| Education | Clifton College |
| Alma mater | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Years active | 1920s–1981 |
| Spouses | |
Alan William Napier-Clavering (7 January 1903 – 8 August 1988), better known asAlan Napier, was an English actor. After a decade inWest End theatre, he had a long film career in Britain and later on in Hollywood. Napier is best remembered for portrayingAlfred Pennyworth,Bruce Wayne's butler in the 1960s live-actionBatman television series.[1]
Alan William Napier-Clavering was born on 7 January 1903 in Birmingham to Claude Gerald Napier-Clavering, managing director of the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft,[2] and Millicent Mary, daughter of politicianWilliam Kenrick. He had two older siblings, Mark (born 1898) and Mary Helen - "Molly" -(born 1900).[3] The Napier-Clavering family were landed gentry- the senior line owning Axwell Park nearGateshead until 1920- and descended fromFrancis Napier, 8th Lord Napier.[4]
Napier was a first cousin-once removed ofNeville Chamberlain,[5] Britain's prime minister from 1937 to 1940. He was educated atPackwood Haugh School and,[6] after leavingClifton College,[7] he studied at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1925.[8]
Napier was engaged by the Oxford Players, where he worked with the likes ofJohn Gielgud andRobert Morley. As Napier recalled, his "ridiculously tall" 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) height[9] almost cost him his position immediately after he secured it.J. B. Fagan had dismissedTyrone Guthrie because he was too tall for most parts.[10] Napier was interviewed (and accepted) as Guthrie's replacement while sitting down. Fagan realized that Napier was even taller than Guthrie when he stood up, but honoured his commitment.[10] Napier performed for ten years (1929–1939) on the West End stage. Napier described himself as having a particular affinity for the work ofGeorge Bernard Shaw, and in 1937 appeared in a London revival ofHeartbreak House supervised by Shaw himself.[11]
Napier made his American stage debut as the romantic lead oppositeGladys George inLady in Waiting.[10] Though his film career had begun in Britain in the 1930s, he had very little success before the cameras until he joined the British expatriate community in Hollywood in 1941. There he spent time with such people asJames Whale, a fellow ex-Oxford Player. He appeared in such films asRandom Harvest (1942),Cat People (1942), andThe Uninvited (1944). InThe Song of Bernadette (1943), he played the ethically questionable psychiatrist who is hired to declare Bernadette mentally ill. He also played the vicious Earl of Warwick inJoan of Arc (1948). He performed in twoShakespearean films: theOrson WellesMacbeth (1948), in which he played a priest that Welles added to the story, who spoke lines originally uttered by other characters, andMGM'sJulius Caesar (1953), asCicero. He playedSean Connery's father in theAlfred Hitchcock movieMarnie (1964).
In 1949, Napier made an appearance on the short-livedtelevision anthology seriesYour Show Time asSherlock Holmes, in an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".[12] In the 1950s, he appeared on TV in four episodes ofAlfred Hitchcock Presents and guest starred onDale Robertson'sNBCwestern seriesTales of Wells Fargo. He had a recurring role as General Steele on the 1962–1963 situation comedyDon't Call Me Charlie!
In 1965, Napier was the first to be cast in theBatman TV series,[13] as Bruce Wayne's faithful butler Alfred, a role he played until the series' cancellation in 1968.
I had never read comics before [I was hired forBatman]. My agent rang up and said, 'I think you are going to play on "Batman,"' I said 'What is "Batman"?' He said, 'Don't you read the comics?' I said, 'No, never.' He said, 'I think you are going to be Batman's butler.' I said, 'How do I know I want to be Batman's butler?' It was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard of. He said, 'It may be worth over $100,000.' So I said I was Batman's butler.[13]
Napier's career extended into the 1980s with roles on television, including the miniseriesQB VII,The Bastard, andCentennial, and the dramaThe Paper Chase. He retired in 1981, aged 78.
In early 1988, Napier appeared on the late-night talk showThe Late Show as part of a reunion of the surviving cast ofBatman, despite being in a wheelchair.[11][14] His co-starYvonne Craig described the reunion show as overbooked, and when hostRoss Shafer finally turned his attention to Napier, it was only to ask him a silly question, then cut him off abruptly as he was telling a story, much to Napier's annoyance. Napier did not participate in the subsequent cast reunion held before his death.[citation needed]
Napier was twice married. His second wife, Aileen Dickens Hawksley, was a great-granddaughter of novelistCharles Dickens.[11] Hawksley's daughter from a previous marriage, actress Jennifer Raine, was the mother of former child actorBrian Forster, best known as "Chris Partridge" on the 1970s television showThe Partridge Family.[15]
Napier suffered astroke in 1987, was hospitalized from June 1988, and was gravely ill for several days before his death of natural causes on 8 August 1988, in the Berkeley East Convalescent Hospital inSanta Monica,California. He was 85 years old.[1]
In the early 1970s, Napier wrote a three-volume autobiography which was not published at the time because, as he joked, "I haven't committed a major crime and I'm not known to have slept with any famous actresses."[16] In 2015, McFarland Press published the book under the titleNot Just Batman's Butler, with Napier's original text annotated and updated by James Bigwood.[17]
| Preceded by Eric Wilton | Alfred Pennyworth Actor 1966–1968 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
