Darwin Joston Biography

'Got a smoke?' Darwin Joston secured himself a permanent place in cult movie history with that particular laconically witty line as laid-back Death Row-bound convict Napoleon Wilson in John Carpenter's outstanding urban action thriller classic 'Assault on Precinct 13.' Wilson was undoubtedly Joston's best role, and he played it with exceptional skill: mellow, low-key, and disarmingly casual with a cool sense of dry ironic humor and a wickedly funny way with a sardonic wisecrack. Joston's terrific portrayal of the acidic and fatalistic Wilson should have lead to bigger and better things. Alas, it did not.Born on December 9, 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as F. Darwin Solomon, Joston graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Darwin moved to New York after college and began acting in stage plays for about five years in the early to mid 60s. He then moved to Los Angeles to continue his acting career. Compared to his substantial starring role in 'Assault on Precinct 13,' most of Joston's other film parts were relatively small: he's an ill-fated army soldier in the dreadful killer animal dud 'Rattlers,' a beleaguered pencil-factory clerk in 'Eraserhead,' a drunken truck driver in 'Coast to Coast,' a coroner in the splendidly spooky 'The Fog,' and a typically relaxed FBI agent in the entertainingly crummy science-fiction/horror hoot 'Time Walker' (Joston was reunited with his fellow 'Assault on Precinct 13' cast member Austin Stoker in this latter picture).Joston also did guest spots on such TV shows as 'Alf,' 'Hill Street Blues,' 'Remington Steele,' 'Spenser: For Hire,' 'The Rookies,' 'McCloud,' 'Ghost Story,' 'Ironside,' 'The Rat Patrol,' 'Lassie' (in which he had a recurring role), and 'The Virginian.' In addition to his acting credits, Joston worked behind-the-scenes as either a driver or a transportation captain on such features as 'The American President,' 'Wild at Heart,' 'La Bamba,' 'Back to the Beach,' 'The Ladies Club,' 'Down and Out in Beverly Hills,' and 'The Buddy Holly Story.'Darwin Joston died of leukemia on June 1, 1998. Although he's no longer with us, Joston nonetheless will forever live on in our hearts and memories as the supremely amiable, if notorious, killer criminal Napoleon Wilson. 'Got a light?'