All the supporting players on Batman had many years of acting experience — considerably more than the stars of the show did! That also goes for Stafford Repp, playing stereotypical Irish cop Chief O’Hara. But what was his background? When did he get into acting? What are some of his other roles, pre- and post-Batman? This time we take a closer look at Repp.
Also: Bat-Audio of Adam and Burt on Entertainment Tonight in 1987, your response to several recent episodes, and a special announcement!
The most un-Ohara role I ever saw Stafford Repp in was a sobering episode of an early 50s series called "Medic" which was a medical anthology drama series hosted by Richard Boone. It was a Christmas story in which a drunken Repp, driving his secretary that he was fooling around with after an office party has a car accident in which the secretary goes through the windshield and is left permanently blinded. Repp, unhurt spends the whole episode in a dazed stupor insisting it wasn't his fault and that he didn't really have too much to drink etc. When you can watch him and never think for a moment of Chief O'Hara you know you're seeing a good performance.
In the grand scheme of things, perhaps Repp was not as distinguished as other character actors of his generation, hence the lack of period media coverage about the man. That's not an insult, but an acknowledgement of how the media recognizes hierarchies of performers, with "stars" (or "breakout" performers) sitting at the top of the pile. Granted, I doubt there's any way to discover how many interviews or profiles were generated about Repp, but its telling that there appears to be a lack of Repp coverage at the time he achieved his greatest bit of career visibility while on Batman.
Apologies if I spaced out and missed it, but I don't think you mentioned one of Repp's most intriguing feature credits: a horror/suspense thriller called "Scream Evelyn Scream", which reunited him with Hubie Kearns and Burt Ward. It was filmed in 1970 as "The Date", and secured a PG rating from the MPAA in 1973, but was apparently never released and is now believed lost. Pressbooks and advertising materials do exist, though.
The folder of documents named “Martin_Grams” was in the batch of stuff I had shared with you a few years ago. I try to keep the sources of my Bat-Stuff organised within my bloated folder structure and as such those specific scans were indeed ones I had been given by author and fellow Dozier-Verse fan, Martin Grams.
Ben Bentley wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2024 8:35 pm
The folder of documents named “Martin_Grams” was in the batch of stuff I had shared with you a few years ago. I try to keep the sources of my Bat-Stuff organised within my bloated folder structure and as such those specific scans were indeed ones I had been given by author and fellow Dozier-Verse fan, Martin Grams.
I see! Coming from Martin via you. Thanks!
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
Checked through the Classmates site and found Stafford Repp in the 1935 Lowell High School yearbook; unfortunately he was a December 1935 graduate so he wasn't in the regular photo section (they were called "Low Seniors") and he wasn't in the '36 yearbook at all. He was listed as being on the golf team, and the glee club - so here he is, on the front row on the far right:
I'd say he's recognizable.
"To the medical eye, such childish claptrap means only one thing, young man: You need some sleep."
Great research, chrisbcritter! The yearbook photo and info just adds another layer to a man who often seems sort of "invisible" in the story of Dozier's Bat-verse.
