Chapman was born in
Harrogate,
West Riding of Yorkshire, and was the uncle of actor/screenwriter
John Chapman and actor
Paul Chapman. On leaving school he became a bank clerk, but later began his
stage career with the
Ben Greet Players in June 1924 at the
Nottingham Repertory Theatre, playing Gecko in
George du Maurier's
Trilby. He made his first London stage appearance at the Court Theatre in August 1925 playing the Rev Septimus Tudor in ''The Farmer's Wife''. Among dozens of stage roles that followed, he played Bonaparte to
Margaret Rawlings's Josephine in
Napoleon at the
Embassy Theatre in September 1934. In 1928 he attracted the attention of
Alfred Hitchcock, who gave him the role of "The Paycock" in the 1930 film,
Juno and the Paycock. In the same year he also made an appearance in
Caste. He had a role in
The Citadel in 1938 and appeared alongside
George Formby in the
Ealing Studios comedy
Turned Out Nice Again in 1941. During the
Second World War he took a break from acting and joined the
Royal Air Force. After training he was posted to
129 (Mysore) Squadron as an intelligence officer. This
Spitfire squadron was based at
Westhampnett and
Debden. The squadron was heavily engaged in combat during this period and many of Chapman's fellow squadron mates were killed in action. Chapman first starred alongside Norman Wisdom in 1957's
Just My Luck in the role of Mr. Stoneway, but the next year in
The Square Peg he appeared as Mr. Grimsdale for the first time opposite Wisdom's character of Norman Pitkin. In 1960 he and Wisdom acted together again in
The Bulldog Breed, playing the roles of Mr. Philpots and Norman Puckle – Mr. Grimsdale and Pitkin in all but name. Wisdom appeared alone as Norman Pitkin in
On the Beat in 1962, while Chapman branched out, starring in the
Danish folktale
Venus fra Vestø, but Grimsdale and Pitkin were reunited for 1963's
A Stitch in Time. Their final performance together was in
The Early Bird in 1965, Wisdom's first film in colour. In all, Chapman appeared alongside Norman Wisdom in five films.
Sir Laurence Olivier reportedly threw Chapman out of his dressing room when he solicited his signature for the petition. From 1965 Chapman played mostly character roles on television. His final role was as Mr. Callon for nine episodes of the
BBC's seafaring melodrama
The Onedin Line between 1971 and 1972. Chapman died in August 1977 of a
heart attack in
Brighton,
East Sussex, England at the age of 75. ==Selected filmography==