Hollywood Tough-Guy Charles Napier Dead at 75

Actor was a regular in Jonathan Demme films often playing memorable roles

By Ken Baker, Marianne Garvey Oct 06, 2011 8:25 PMTags
Charles Napier, PhiladelphiaTriStar Pictures

Square-jawed acting legend Charles Napier has died.

The tough-guy 75-year-old star, who has acted in films including The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia, collapsed in his Bakersfield, Calif. home Monday night and was found on Tuesday.

So what exactly happened?

Napier had been suffering from health problems and had been admitted to the hospital in May 2010 to deal with blood clots in his legs, per the local ABC News affiliate

He was placed on life support in the intensive care unit just before 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

The actor, who was perhaps best known for his role as Tucker McElroy in The Blues Brothers, was surrounded by his family when life support was turned off.

His most recent work was in the Jeremy Piven film, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.

According to his official website, Napier was a teacher who caught the acting bug, moved to Hollywood and found himself down and out until he was discovered by Alfred Hitchcock and placed under contract at Universal Studios.

E! News Correspondent Ken Baker knew Napier and says he was like the "unofficial Mayor of Bakersfield."

"I met him when I played pro-hockey there in 2001-2002 and had seen him since, most recently earlier this year," Ken said. "He was a big hockey fan and did a lot of charity efforts with the Bakersfield Condors team. Just an easygoing guy who loved small-town life."