| Ian Abercrombie | |
|---|---|
| File:IanAbercrombie.jpg | |
| Born |
11 September 1934 Grays, Essex, England |
| Died |
26 January 2012 (aged 77) Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian |
| Years active | 1955–2012 |
| Notable work(s) |
|
| Television |
|
| Spouse(s) |
|
Ian Abercrombie[1] (11 September 1934 – 26 January 2012) was an English actor and comedian long based in the United States, best known for playing Justin Pitt (Elaine Benes' boss) during the sixth season of Seinfeld.[2] He also played Alfred Pennyworth on Birds of Prey, Rupert Cavanaugh (Ian Hainsworth's butler) in Desperate Housewives, Professor Crumbs in Wizards of Waverly Place, and Palpatine in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Early life[]
Abercrombie was born on 11 September 1934 in Grays, Essex, England.[3] He began his theatrical career during the Blitz in World War II. After his footwork years during which he earned Bronze, Silver and gold medals in stage dancing, he performed in London, Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands. He moved to the United States at age 17.[3]
He made his American stage debut in 1955 in a production of Stalag 17 with Jason Robards and Jules Munshin. Many plays in summer stock, regional, and off-Broadway followed in a variety of theatrical offerings, from revues to Shakespeare (in a particularly low period, he worked as a magician's assistant for $10 a performance).
In 1957, he was drafted into the United States Army and stationed in West Germany as part of Special Services, where he directed the continental premiere of Separate Tables.
In the United States, he went to California for a backers' audition, which went nowhere, but he began a long film and television career. He received awards[Clarification needed] for his work in Sweet Prince with Keir Dullea; Teeth 'N'smiles; A Doll's House with Linda Purl; and The Arcata Promise, opposite Anthony Hopkins. He received acclaim for the one-man show Jean Cocteau—A Mirror Image.
Career[]
Abercrombie was known to cult film audiences as Wiseman in the comedy horror film Army of Darkness (1993). He guest-starred on many television series such as Seinfeld, The Nanny, Wizards of Waverly Place, Airwolf, Babylon 5, Barnaby Jones and NewsRadio.
On radio, he was heard in several productions of the Hollywood Theater of the Ear.[citation needed] Abercrombie voiced Ambrose in Oscar winner Rango (2011). He also portrayed Ganthet on Green Lantern: The Animated Series, completing his work on the latest episode of the Cartoon Network show just before his death.[4]
Star Wars: The Clone Wars[]
Abercrombie voiced Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious in the 2008 film The Clone Wars, the television continuation, and two spin-off video games (Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes[5] and Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels). Supervising director Dave Filoni said that Abercrombie was very excited that Darth Sidious finally was going to be seen in person and not as a hologram anymore. During Celebration VI, Filoni mentioned that before his death, Abercrombie recorded for most of season five as the character, but did not finish, so actor Tim Curry was brought in to voice Palpatine. Abercrombie also voiced the character in the Clovis story arc of the Lost Missions (season six), since it was originally a part of the season four, and later the season five, line-up. This was his final released work, shown in 2014.
Death[]
Abercrombie died in Hollywood, California on 26 January 2012, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, twenty days after the Wizards of Waverly Place finale, from kidney failure. He was 77.[3]
Star Wars Celebration VI included the panel "Vocal Stars of The Clone Wars", hosted by James Arnold Taylor and featuring cast members Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, Dee Bradley Baker and Tom Kane. The cast dedicated the panel to Abercrombie. Additionally, The Clone Wars episode "The Lawless" includes a dedication to Abercrombie in the opening titles.
Filmography[]
| Filmography | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1965 | Von Ryan's Express | English POW | Uncredited |
| 1968 | Star! | Man In Brixton Music Hall | Uncredited |
| 1969 | They Shoot Horses, Don't They? | Male Dancer #74 | Uncredited |
| 1970 | The Molly Maguires | Stock Actor | Uncredited |
| 1973 | Wicked, Wicked | Eddie, Room Service Waiter | Uncredited |
| 1974 | Young Frankenstein | Second Villager | Uncredited |
| 1974 | The Island at the Top of the World | Train Conductor | Uncredited |
| 1977 | Sextette | Rex Ambrose | |
| 1977–1983 | Fantasy Island | McShane / Inspector Lestrade / Bartender | 3 episodes |
| 1978 | Battlestar Galactica | Forger 7 | Episode: "The Long Patrol" |
| 1979 | The Prisoner of Zenda | Johann | |
| 1980 | The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood | Denis | |
| 1980 | Blood Beach | Man In Mayor's Office | |
| 1981 | Getting Even | Mr. Kenwood | |
| 1982 | Marian Rose White | Lord Bates | TV movie |
| 1982 | Voyagers! | Bitiatus | Episode: "Created Equal" |
| 1982 | The Devlin Connection | Auctioneer | Episode: "The French Detective" |
| 1983 | Happy Days | Oscar | Episode: "Hello, Pfisters" |
| 1983 | Tucker's Witch | Doorman | Episode: "Dye Job" |
| 1983 | Flicks | Inspector | (segment 'Whodunit') |
| 1983 | Journey's End | TV movie | |
| 1984 | The Ice Pirates | Hymie | |
| 1985 | Kicks | Barnes | TV movie |
| 1986 | Last Resort | Maître d' | |
| 1986 | Firewalker | Boggs | |
| 1987 | It's Garry Shandling's Show | Himself | |
| 1987 | Frog | Dr. Fritsky | TV movie |
| 1988 | Catacombs | Brother Orsini | |
| 1988 | Hunter | George Cooper | Episode: "The Black Dahlia" |
| 1989 | 21 Jump Street | Lemieux | Episode: "Old Haunts in the New Age" |
| 1989 | Alf | British Announcer | Episode: "Mind Games" |
| 1989 | Warlock | Magistrate #1 | |
| 1990 | Tales from the Crypt | Fulton | Episode: "The Switch" |
| 1990 | Repossessed | Iced Tea Waiter | Uncredited |
| 1990 | Twin Peaks | Tom Brockman | 1 episode |
| 1990 | The Flash | Skip | Episode: "Ghost in the Machine" |
| 1991 | Zandalee | Louis Medina | |
| 1991 | Puppet Master III | Dr. Hess | |
| 1991 | Rolling Thunder | ||
| 1992 | The Public Eye | Mr. Brown | |
| 1992 | Army of Darkness | Wiseman | |
| 1993 | Grief | Stanley | |
| 1993 | Addams Family Values | Driver | |
| 1994 | Clean Slate | Leader | |
| 1994 | Babylon 5 | Correlilmurzon | Episode: "Acts of Sacrifice" |
| 1994–1998 | Seinfeld | Justin Pitt | 7 episodes[3] |
| 1997 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Butler | |
| 1997–2002 | Days of Our Lives | Hotel Manager / Jeweller / Mr. Simkins / Lawyer | 4 episodes |
| 1997 | Mouse Hunt | Auctioneer | |
| 1997 | Over the Top | Nigel | Episode: "Acting Out" |
| 1998 | NewsRadio | Cadbury | Season 4 Episode 9 "The Secret of Management" |
| 1998 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Old Man / German Boss | Episode: "Homecoming" |
| 1998 | Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction | Emile | Season 2 Episode 7 |
| 1999 | Wild Wild West | British Dignitary | |
| 1999-2000 | Star Trek: Voyager | Abbot / Milo | Episodes: "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "Spirit Folk" |
| 2000 | Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman | Psychiatrist | Direct-to-video |
| 2001 | Blasphemy the Movie | Zues | |
| 2002 | James Bond 007: Nightfire | Alexander Mayhew | Voice, Video game |
| 2002-2003 | Birds of Prey | Alfred Pennyworth | 14 Episodes |
| 2003 | Chromiumblue.com | Sir George | |
| 2004 | Charmed | Aramis, Member of The Tribunal | Season 6 Episode 19: "Crimes and Witch-Demeanors" |
| 2004 | RalliSport Challenge 2 | Narrator | Video Game |
| 2005 | Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School | Evrin Sezgin | |
| 2005 | The L.A. Riot Spectacular | Auctioneer | |
| 2005 | Area 51 | Dr. Winston Cray[6] | Voice, Video Game |
| 2005 | The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy | F | Voice, Episode: "Scythe 2.0" |
| 2005 | Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None | Thomas Rogers / General Mackenzie[6] | Voice, Video Game Based on the novel of the same name. |
| 2006 | The Batman | Ewan[6] | Voice, Episode: "The Icy Depths" |
| 2006 | Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties | Smithee | |
| 2006 | Inland Empire | Henry The Butler | |
| 2007 | Trust Me | Teitelbaum | |
| 2007 | Hard Four | Jack Ermine | |
| 2007–2012 | Wizards of Waverly Place | Professor Crumbs | 10 episodes |
| 2008 | How I Met Your Mother | Benjamin Franklin | Season 3, Episode 17: "The Goat" |
| 2008 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious[6] | Voice |
| 2008 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels | Darth Sidious | Voice, Video Game |
| 2008 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes | Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious[6] | Voice, Videogame |
| 2008–2014 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 29 Episodes His death is honored at the beginning of the episode "The Lawless" – S5E16. | |
| 2011 | Rango | Ambrose[6] | Voice |
| 2011 | Childrens Hospital | Butler | Episode: "Run, Dr. Lola Spratt, Run" |
| 2011 | Happily Divorced | Victor | Episode: "Spousal Support" |
| 2011-2013 | Green Lantern: The Animated Series | Ganthet[6] | Voice, 5 Episodes His death is honored at the end of the episode "Regime Change" – S1E10. |
References[]
- ↑ "U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895–1956". Ancestry.com. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-c&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Ian&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Abercrombie&gsln_x=0&cp=0&MSAV=1&uidh=fk7&pcat=40&h=3422763&db=CanadianBC&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2.
- ↑ "Ian Abercrombie". The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2010. https://movies.nytimes.com/person/114/Ian-Abercrombie.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Barnes, Mike (27 January 2012). "Ian Abercrombie, Elaine's Boss on 'Seinfeld', Dies at 77". http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ian-abercrombie-dies-seinfeld-elaine-boss-285386.
- ↑ Minovitz, Ethan (28 January 2012). "Ian Abercrombie, 77, was boss Mr. Pitt on Seinfeld". http://blog.bcdb.com/ian-abercrombie-77-boss-mr-pitt-seinfeld-2858/.
- ↑ Krome Studios (6 October 2009). Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes. LucasArts. Scene: Closing credits, 2:30 in, Voice Talent.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 "Ian Abercrombie - 12 Character Images". https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Ian-Abercrombie/.
External links[]
- Ian Abercrombie at the Internet Movie Database
- Ian Abercrombie at the TCM Movie Database
- Ian Abercrombie at AllMovie
- Ian Abercrombie at Find a Grave
The original article can be found at Ian Abercrombie and the edit history here.