© The Associated Press/The Bakersfield Californian, Casey ChristieIn this March 12, 2011 photo, actor and author Charles Napier is shown at an appearance for his book, Square Jaw and Big Heart, at Russo's Books in Bakersfield, Calif. Napier, a character actor whose granite jaw and toothy grin earned him tough-guy roles in movies like Rambo: First Blood Part 2, died Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital in California. He was 75.
From the dim-witted country music star John Belushi flimflammed in The Blues Brother movie to the scheming military intelligence officer who matched wits with Sylvester Stallone in Rambo: First Blood II, Napier appeared in scores of films and TV shows in a career spanning more than 40 years.
He died Wednesday at age 75 at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, his longtime friend Dennis Wilson told the Bakersfield Californian. The cause of death was not given.
The actor, whose earliest roles included a memorable turn as a hippie wanderer searching for paradise in a classic 1960s Star Trek episode, continued to work until shortly before his death. He had a voice role in the animated series Archer earlier this year.
In recent years he was a sheriff in an episode of Monk, a father on Curb Your Enthusiasm and a security guard on the children's show Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. His voice was also heard on several episodes of The Simpsons as Officer Krackney and other characters.
His favorite role was as the judge in Philadelphia, the 1993 film that won Tom Hanks a best actor Oscar as an attorney stricken with HIV.
His stock in trade, however, was playing steely eyed tough guys in films like The Silence of the Lambs and even comedies like The Blues Brothers, in which he famously threatened to knock out Belushi's teeth for asking to see his musician's union card.
"I always felt I played myself or some kind of version of myself," Napier told the Bakersfield Californian earlier this year. "If you think about it, old actors probably don't even have a self."
