Alan Napier


Alan William Napier-Clavering, better known as Alan Napier, was an English actor. After a decade in West End theatre, he had a long film career in Britain and later on in Hollywood. Napier is best remembered for portraying Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler in the 1960s live-action Batman television series.

Early life and career

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, and Millicent Mary, daughter of politician William Kenrick. He had two older siblings, Mark and Mary Helen - "Molly" -. The Napier-Clavering family were landed gentry- the senior line owning Axwell Park near Gateshead until 1920- and descended from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier.
Napier was a first cousin-once removed of Neville Chamberlain, Britain's prime minister from 1937 to 1940. He was educated at Packwood Haugh School and, after leaving Clifton College, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1925.
Napier was engaged by the Oxford Players, where he worked with the likes of John Gielgud and Robert Morley. As Napier recalled, his "ridiculously tall" height almost cost him his position immediately after he secured it. J. B. Fagan had dismissed Tyrone Guthrie because he was too tall for most parts. Napier was interviewed as Guthrie's replacement while sitting down. Fagan realized that Napier was even taller than Guthrie when he stood up, but honoured his commitment. Napier performed for ten years on the West End stage. Napier described himself as having a particular affinity for the work of George Bernard Shaw, and in 1937 appeared in a London revival of Heartbreak House supervised by Shaw himself.
Napier made his American stage debut as the romantic lead opposite Gladys George in Lady in Waiting. 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 as James Whale, a fellow ex-Oxford Player. He appeared in such films as Random Harvest, Cat People, and The Uninvited. In The Song of Bernadette, he played the ethically questionable psychiatrist who is hired to declare Bernadette mentally ill. He also played the vicious Earl of Warwick in Joan of Arc. He performed in two Shakespearean films: the Orson Welles Macbeth, in which he played a priest that Welles added to the story, who spoke lines originally uttered by other characters, and MGM's Julius Caesar, as Cicero. He played Sean Connery's father in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Marnie.
In 1949, Napier made an appearance on the short-lived television anthology series Your Show Time as Sherlock Holmes, in an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Speckled Band". In the 1950s, he appeared on TV in four episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and guest starred on Dale Robertson's NBC western series Tales of Wells Fargo. He had a recurring role as General Steele on the 1962–1963 situation comedy ''Don't Call Me Charlie!''

''Batman''

In 1965, Napier was the first to be cast in the Batman TV series, as Bruce Wayne's faithful butler Alfred, a role he played until the series' cancellation in 1968.
I had never read comics before . 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.

Later life and career

Napier's career extended into the 1980s with roles on television, including the miniseries QB VII, The Bastard, and Centennial, and the drama The Paper Chase. He retired in 1981, aged 78.
In early 1988, Napier appeared on the late-night talk show The Late Show as part of a reunion of the surviving cast of Batman, despite being in a wheelchair. His co-star Yvonne Craig described the reunion show as overbooked, and when host Ross 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.

Family

Napier was twice married. His second wife, Aileen Dickens Hawksley, was a great-granddaughter of novelist Charles Dickens. Hawksley's daughter from a previous marriage, actress Jennifer Raine, was the mother of former child actor Brian Forster, best known as "Chris Partridge" on the 1970s television show The Partridge Family.

Death

Napier suffered a stroke 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 in Santa Monica, California. He was 85 years old.

Autobiography

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." In 2015, McFarland Press published the book under the title Not Just Batman's Butler, with Napier's original text annotated and updated by James Bigwood.

Partial filmography

  • Caste as Capt. Hawtree
  • Stamboul as Bouchier
  • In a Monastery Garden as Count Romano
  • Loyalties as Gen. Canynge
  • Wings Over Africa as Redfern
  • For Valour as General
  • The Wife of General Ling as Governor
  • The Four Just Men as Sir Hamar Ryman
  • We Are Not Alone as Archdeacon
  • The Invisible Man Returns as Willie Spears
  • The House of the Seven Gables as Fuller
  • Confirm or Deny as Updyke
  • Eagle Squadron as Black Watch officer
  • A Yank at Eton as Restaurateur
  • Cat People as Doc Carver
  • Random Harvest as Julian
  • Assignment in Brittany as Sam Wells
  • Appointment in Berlin as Col. Patterson
  • Lassie Come Home as Jock
  • Madame Curie as Dr. Bladh
  • The Song of Bernadette as Dr. Debeau
  • Lost Angel as Dr. Woodring
  • The Uninvited as Dr. Scott
  • Action in Arabia as Eric Latimer
  • The Hairy Ape as MacDougald, Chief Engineer
  • Ministry of Fear as Dr. JM Forrester
  • Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo as Mr. Parker
  • Dark Waters as The Doctor
  • Mademoiselle Fifi as The Count de Breville
  • Hangover Square as Sir Henry Chapman
  • Isle of the Dead as St. Aubyn
  • Three Strangers as David Shackleford
  • House of Horrors as F. Holmes Harmon
  • A Scandal in Paris as Houdon De Pierremont, Police Minister
  • The Strange Woman as Judge Henry Saladine
  • Sinbad the Sailor as Aga
  • Fiesta as The Tourist
  • High Conquest as Tommy Donlin
  • Ivy as Sir Jonathan Wright
  • Adventure Island as Attwater
  • Lured as Detective Gordon
  • Driftwood as Dr. Nicholas Adams
  • Unconquered as Sir William Johnson
  • Forever Amber as Landale
  • The Lone Wolf in London as Monty Beresford
  • Johnny Belinda as Defense Attorney
  • Macbeth as A Holy Father
  • Joan of Arc as Earl of Warwick
  • Hills of Home as Sir George
  • Criss Cross as Finchley
  • My Own True Love as Kittredge
  • Tarzan's Magic Fountain as Douglas Jessup
  • A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court as High Executioner
  • Manhandled as Alton Bennet
  • The Red Danube as The General
  • Challenge to Lassie as Lord Provost
  • Master Minds as Dr. Druzik
  • Tripoli as Khalil
  • Double Crossbones as Capt. Kidd
  • Tarzan's Peril as Commissioner Peters
  • The Great Caruso as Jean de Reszke
  • The Highwayman as Barton
  • Across the Wide Missouri as Capt. Humberstone Lyon
  • The Blue Veil as Prof. George Carter
  • The Strange Door as Count Grassin
  • Big Jim McLain as Sturak
  • Julius Caesar as Cicero
  • Young Bess as Robert Tyrwhitt
  • Désirée as Despreaux
  • Moonfleet as Parson Glennie
  • The Court Jester as Sir Brockhurst
  • Miami Exposé as Raymond Sheridan
  • The Mole People as Elinu, the High Priest
  • Until They Sail as Prosecution Attorney
  • Island of Lost Women as Dr. Paul Lujan
  • Journey to the Center of the Earth as Dean
  • Wild in the Country as Prof. Joe B. Larson
  • Tender Is the Night as Señor Pardo
  • The Premature Burial as Dr. Gideon Gault
  • The Sword in the Stone as Sir Pellinore
  • Marnie as Mr. Rutland
  • Mary Poppins as Huntsman / Reporter #3 / Hound
  • My Fair Lady as Gentleman who escorts Eliza to the Queen of Transylvania
  • Signpost to Murder as The Vicar
  • 36 Hours as Col. Peter MacLean
  • The Loved One as English Club Official
  • Batman as Alfred Pennyworth

    Partial television credits

  • Your Show Time Season 1 Episode 10: "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" as Sherlock Holmes
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents Season 1 Episode 5: "Into Thin Air" aka "The Vanishing Lady" as Sir Everett
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents Season 1 Episode 26: "Whodunit" as Wilfred - The Recording Angel
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents Season 2 Episodes 25, 26, 27: "I Killed the Count" Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 as Lord Sorrington
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents Season 4 Episode 24: "The Avon Emeralds" as Sir Charles Harrington
  • Don't Call Me Charlie!, recurring role as General Steele
  • The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as Mr. Hodges
  • Twilight Zone episode "Passage on the Lady Anne" as Captain Protheroe
  • Daniel Boone S1/E26-27 "Cain's Birthday" as Colonel Sir Hubert Crater
  • Daniel Boone S2/E13 "The Perilous Journey" as Lord Brisbane
  • The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as Guerny, Sr.
  • Batman as Alfred Pennyworth
  • The Beverly Hillbillies Episode "The Clampetts In London" as Chemist
  • Family Affair S3/E17 "Oh to be in England" as Mr. Wills
  • Ironside
  • QB VII as Semple
  • The Bastard as Dr. Bleeker
  • Centennial as Lord Venneford