Marshall Napier grew up in the suburbs of New Zealand. Disliking school, he daydreamed through lessons and drew cartoons in his schoolbooks. As a young man he worked at a series of manual jobs before finding his way into acting. By the 1980s he had become a well-known character actor in New Zealand and Australia. Sometimes he sold cartoons to magazines, but once his acting career took off drawing became a private pursuit. His drawings are fuelled by dark humour and a heroic capacity for existential dread. Marshall passed away on the 14th of August, 2022 after a brief battle with brain cancer. His creative estate is currently managed by his son James.