Every version of Alfred ranked worst to best

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Alan Napier (Batman, 1966)



The trick with the 1966 Batman television series is that it only really works as long as everyone plays it straight—especially the good guys. It's one of the reasons that Batman himself is depicted as the ultimate square. He has to give the endlessly colorful special guest villains a solid foundation so they can go over the top, and any sly wink to the audience causes the whole thing to collapse. That said, Alan Napier gets to have far more fun than most.

For the most part, his role is to be little more than Batman's steadfast, stentorian receptionist. He's the one who answers the Bat-Phone when Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara call the hotline. In addition to making viewers wonder what would happen if Gordon and O'Hara ever stopped to wonder which prominent Gotham citizens had a proper British butler answering their phone, this allowed the show to feature all those wonderfully bizarre glimpses at Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson's personal lives, where they're busy with three-dimensional chess or conjugating Latin verbs.

Every now and then, Napier's Alfred got his chance to shine. Over the course of the series, he pulls off a daring rescue while dressed as Batman himself*and even manages to be the only member of the team to learn Batgirl's secret identity. And that, in turn, means that he's acting as the secret aide-de-camp to all three crimefighters while keeping their identities secret from the others. No other Alfred pulled that off, and his epic fireplace poker fencing showdown against the Joker in Season 2 is among the best moments the character has had in any medium. Put it all together, and you've got the best live-action Alfred of all time.

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