The Life and Times of Alan Napier

TVC 722.1: From January 2016: James Bigwood joins Ed for a look at the life and career of Alan Napier (1903-1988), the British actor best known to three generations of TV viewers as Alfred the butler on Batman. Jim is co-author of Not Just Batman's Butler: The Autobiography of Alan Napier, a combination memoir, biography and filmography that is largely based on a manuscript that Napier wrote himself in 1969. Jim first learned about this manuscript in 1975, when he interviewed Napier for Films in Review. Over the ensuing years, he helped flesh out the manuscript (including the chapters on the last twenty years of Napier's life) and eventually got it published. January 2026 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the premiere of Batman. Not Just Batman's Butler is available through McFarlandPub.com. You can also order it by calling (800) 253-2187. Audio clips of Alan Napier heard in this segment courtesy of Jeffrey Vance.