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| Willie Spears | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Willie Spears | |
| Aliases: | Mister Spears |
| Franchise: | Universal Monsters |
| Notability: | Supporting character |
| Type: | Miner |
| Gender: | Male |
| Location: | Radcliffe Colliery, London, England |
| Status: | Dead |
| Born: | 1903 [1] |
| Died: | 1940 |
| Introduction: | Invisible Man Returns, The (1940) |
| Actor: | Alan Napier |
Willie Spears is a fictional miner featured in the Universal Monsters film series. He was a minor character in the 1940 movie The Invisible Man Returns where he was played by actor Alan Napier.
Biography[]
Willie Spears was born some time around the turn of the century. He lived in London, England and worked at the Radcliffe Colliery. He was a notable character about town, owing largely to the fact that he was usually drunk.
One of the business partners of the coal mine, Richard Cobb, sought to gain control of the entire business as well as the Radcliffe family fortune. He murdered one of the owners, Michael Radcliffe, and then conspired with Willie to implicate Michael's brother, Geoffrey Radcliffe, in the murder. In exchange, Richard promoted him to superintendent of the colliery.
One of Geoffrey's closest friends was a man named Frank Griffin. Frank was the younger brother of Jack Griffin - the late mad scientist who had created an invisibility formula that had caused quite a stir some nine years earlier. On the eve of Geoffrey's execution, Frank paid his friend a visit. He injected him with his own version of the invisibility formula, enabling Radcliffe to break out of prison so he could clear his name. To conceal himself from detection, he operated totally naked so that no one could see him. He visited Griffin later in order to see Helen, at which point donned proper attire and swathed his head in bandages and dark sunglasses. Griffin told him that he was working on an antidote, but he had to make haste with his investigation. The longer he remained invisible, the more likely it would become that his mind would deteriorate, same as what had happened to his brother.
Radcliffe suspected that Willie Spears might have been involved in the frame-up, so he tracked him down. The besotted miner was driving home inebriated when the invisible Radcliffe sabotaged his car. Willie stumbled about as Geoffrey's disembodied voice tormented him, repeating his name over and over, pretending that he was a ghost. Spears became so startled that he ultimately fainted. Radcliffe dragged his body to a puddle of water and dunked his face into it until he revived. After more torment, Willie eventually confessed that Richard put him up towards framing Geoffrey for the murder by promising to make him superintendent at the coal mines. Geoffrey let Willie go free, but he wasn't done with him yet. Willie ran back to his cottage and began packing his bags. Radcliffe broke into his home, smacked him about, then bound his feet together. He left him alone in the cottage, unable to escape. Armed with the truth about his murderous cousin, Radcliffe set out to plot his revenge.
Geoffrey brought Richard back to Willie Spears' cabin. Spears had been strung up in a noose, but the noose had yet to be drawn tight enough to hang him. Richard took advantage of the opportunity to shut out the lights, claiming that they were now on equal footing. The two fought one another and during the struggle, the rope around Willie's neck drew taught, killing him. [2]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Willie Spears was created by director Joe May and writers Curt Siodmak, Lester Cole and Cedric Belfrage based on concepts originally developed by H.G. Wells.
- Fans of the 1966 Batman television series might recognize actor Alan Napier, who plays Willie Spears in this film. On Batman, Napier played the role of Alfred - butler to Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.
See also[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ Date approximated based upon the age of actor Alan Napier.
- ↑ Invisible Man Returns, The (1940)
 This article relates to characters featured in and pertaining to the Universal Monsters franchise. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Universal Classics characters category. |