R.I.P. Charles Napier

I apologise for being so late with this post. Charles Napier died over a year ago, aged 75, on October 5th 2011. I only found out he was dead this morning. In a way that's typical. His death was just as unnoticed as his life. I expect that most of my readers will shrug their shoulders and say "Charles who?" In my opinion he was one of the world's most underrated actors, maybe the most underrated actor ever.

The ones most likely to remember him are Star Trek fans. He appeared as the hippy Adam in one of the last episodes of the original series in 1969. This was one of his first acting roles. His role as policeman Harry Sledge in "Supervixens" in 1975 should have proved to the world that he was a formidable actor who had a big career ahead of him. But something went wrong. For the next 35 years he was typecast as a soldier or policeman, being given small roles, virtually only an extra with a few lines. His resume includes many famous films, such as "Austin Powers" and "Silence of the Lambs", but they're all if-you-blink-you'll-miss-him roles. That's tragic for a man of his immense talent.

The film world in general will forget about Charles Napier. I won't. Later this month I'll rewatch "Supervixens", and I'll buy at least one other film he starred in. I'll never forget him. Rest in peace.