Stafford Repp

Stafford Alois Repp (26 April, 1918 - 5 November, 1974) was a character actor best known for his role as Chief O'Hara on the Batman TV series.

Born and raised in California, he was educated at Lowell High School in San Francisco. Soon after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Repp served a stint in the United States Army Air Corps. After this service he began his acting career in mid-life. He was first hired to create sound effects during the "Golden Age of Television".

At the beginning of his acting career, Repp appeared in numerous film and TV productions including the films I Want to Live! with Susan Hayward, and The Brothers Karamazov, both made in 1958. Also at this same time he began to appear in main recurring roles in a string of early TV shows from the late 1950s to the early 1960s starting with The Thin Man (1957), Texas John Slaughter (1958) and as Brink on Phil Silvers' The New Phil Silvers Show (1963)

However, it was his role as Chief O'Hara that he will be mainly recognised for with the thick Irish brogue that he had developed for the part. According to Adam West, Neil Hamilton, who played Commissioner Gordon on the show, did not like Repp's fake Irish accent, and their on-screen partnership was decidedly friendlier than in real life. While on Batman he appeared as a guest in numerous other TV shows of the time including I Dream of Jeannie.

After Batman was cancelled in 1968, he wisely invested his money with a partnership in a chain of car washes, which brought him considerable financial success. Sadly, Repp suffered a fatal heart attack at age 56 on November 5, 1974 while at the Hollywood Park racing track. He is buried at the Westminister Memorial Park in Orange County, California. After his death, his sister, a TV writer, established the Stafford Repp Memorial Scholarship for alumni of his alma mater, Lowell High School in San Francisco.

His last film was Cycle Psycho in 1972 and his last television appearance was on the popular TV show M*A*S*H {as a Military Policeman} which was broadcast after his death.

Selected filmography

* The Price of Fear (1956)
* I Want to Live! (1958)
* The Brothers Karamazov (1958)
* The New Phil Silvers Show (1963) - Brink
* Batman TV series (1966 - 1968) - Chief O'Hara
* Batman (1966) - Chief O'Hara
* Cycle Psycho (1972)

External links

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* Information and photos on Stafford Repp