Police Chief O'Hara - Stafford Repp
The Chief of Police , Chief O'Hara a man who was always by the commissioners side. Like a good sidekick, he helped stop the evil that invaded Gotham City.
In the series, Chief O'Hara was played by Stafford Repp.
I have had a very hard time finding much information about this fine actor. He was born in 1918 in San Francisco California and had a brother that was really a police officer. He started his career late in life, he was in the Army Air Corps during WWII for 3 1/2 years and when he got out, he studied acting. His big break came when he was hired to do sound effects for early TV for $1.00 a show ! Later he moved on to become a character actor in such series as The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, Mr Lucky, Bonanza , Banacek, and also was a co-star in the series The Thin Man, and The New Phil Silvers Show . His movie credits were The same support roles he had in his TV roles.
His first screen credit was the 1955 movie Man With A Gun.
He had roles in 11 other movies before his appearance in Batman in 1966. He never achieved star status, his roles were always as a support actor.
He appeared as a detective in the movie, I Want To Live with Susan Hayward.
In Plunder Road, he was a truck driver that was transporting stolen money from aTrain they hijacked in 1957.
He appeared in a old sci fi movie, Savage Attraction in 1973 and the last credit I could find for him was an appearance in M*A*S*H as a black marketer soldier. He got married during the last season of Batman in 1968. I wish I could give you a better biography but the details are few but I believe he opened a chain of car washes in the early 70's.
Chief O'Hara With Barbara Gordon
Commissioner Gordon has been kidnapped by The Siren and The Chief went to see Barbara to ease her fears. Barbara told him to leave a message if shes not home and he dicovers " one of those new fangled gizmos" that plays a message in your own voice!
Amazing, In this episode of Perry Mason from 1964, Stafford Plays a bartender. What happened to the thick Irish accent ?
Stafford played a
Sheriff in Gunsmoke - 1972
He
was a good actor but his accent was a put on judging from his
previous roles.
Neil
Hamilton would get mad at him if he thought he laid on the Irish
accent too thick. Like Johnny Carson's Ed Mcmahon, Chief O'Hara was
almost always by the commissioners side.
In M*A*S*H - 1974. The show "Fools Gold " aired after his death.
I did find out some additional information on Stafford.
He attended Lowell High School in San Francisco and after his death, his sister created a scholarship in his name. Here is the press release on the scholarship and a touching eulogy to her brother.
Alumna Establishes $50,000Memorial Scholarship
Mrs.
Elisabeth Repp Cooper '37 of Long Beach has established a $50,000
scholarship in memory of her brother, Stafford A. Repp '35 who died
in 1974 at the age of 56.
After a brief career in Bay Area Reper-tory Theatre, Mr. Repp went to Southern California where he played character roles in hundreds of television shows and movies. Mrs. Cooper who is a writer for television wrote this eulogy for her brother:
IN MEMORIAM
Stafford was unique. No one else was quite like him. He had many talents - a gifted actor, a fine singer, and a wit, but most of all, he had a gift for friendship. Like Will Rogers, he never met a person he didn't like or who didn't like him. He was never heard to say an unkind word about anyone. Where most of us see only the faults, he was blind to these and saw only the virtues. His friends were many and from all walks of life
- from race track gamblers to TV stars, the most ordinary and the most famous, to him they were all the same, his friends.
He was generous to a fault and never refused to help when help was asked. He was gentle and kind, compassionate as few men are.
He was human, of course, with human faults and virtues, but his virtues were many and his faults few. His temper was short but quick. His explosions of anger were brief and his contrition long.
Stafford loved life. He ate and drank and worked and played with gusto. As Chief O'Hara in "Batman", his face was familiar to children all over the world, and that was as it should be because there was so much of the child in him - the happiness he found in the smallest pleasures, the total honesty, the innocent trust.
He was a loving son, a devoted brother, an adoring uncle, a good husband.
The last day of his life was perhaps one of the fullest. He had what an actor always hopes for, a good role.. .this one in "Mannix" was a physical and emotional challenge. And like the good trouper he was, he finished the job that very day. And, a rare occurrence, his wife was on the set, wat-ching the filming. It was their fourth
anniversary.
Then, later, he was at the place he always loved, Hollywood Park. And there he died the way he always said he wanted to - at the track with a winning ticket in his pocket. God tapped him on the shoulder and, in Stafford's own words, "It was post time at the big race track in the sky."
We should not weep for him. His life was not as long as we would have wished, but it was full with success, with fun, with friendship, with love. We weep for ourselves for the loss of a friend, an uncle, a brother, a husband. We weep for the void he has left in our lives. But we also remember how he brightened each life that he touched, and we will cherish that memory forever.
Elisabeth Cooper serves on the Southern California Lowell Alumni Steering Committee. On several occasions, she has been the SoCal representative attending monthly alumni Board meetings.
The Board of Directors wishes to thank Mrs. Cooper for her heart-warming gift in her brother's memory. Each spring the in-terest generated by the scholarship will be awarded to deserving, college-bound seniors.
Stafford A. Repp '35
Stafford Passed Away on November 5th, 1974.
Stafford is buried at
Westminster Memorial Park
14801 Beach Blvd
Westminster, California, USA
If anyone comes across any other information, please send it my way !
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