Charles Napier (actor) life and biography

Charles L. Napier was an American actor, known for his portrayals of square-jawed tough guys and military types.

Charles gave up a career as a teacher to move to Hollywood. Napier made his film debut in Russ Meyer's Cherry, Harry & Raquel! (1970). Napier went on to play roles in several Meyer movies, including the homicidal Harry Sledge in Supervixens (1975). In 1977, Napier was cast as frontier scout Luther Sprague in the 6-episode NBC western television series, The Oregon Trail, with co-stars Rod Taylor, Andrew Stevens, Tony Becker, and Darleen Carr.

Napier is a regular 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 Old 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. Charles appeared in 2 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 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". He also appeared in the pilot episode of Knight Rider in 1982.

From 1997 until 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 also 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, though uncredited. He was replaced by like-sounding Bobby Ellerbee.

Napier had made his prominent appearance in 2004 in DinoCroc. His role was that of the sheriff Harper, whose daughter Diane was one of the main personages of the film.
Napier also had a small role during the sixth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2008 as a barber who assaulted Larry David in his shop after Larry offended 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.

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)
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)
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)

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