 | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Hair Color: | Grey |
| Death Age: | 77 Years Old |
| Birth: | September 11, 1934 |
| Death: | January 26, 2012 |
| Place of Birth: | Grays, United Kingdom |
| Place of Death: | Los Angeles, California |
| Role: | Professor Crumbs |
| Years Active: | 1955-2012 |
| SeasonsAppeared: | Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 |
| FirstAppearances: | Wizard School, Part 1 |
| LastAppearances: | Who Will Be The Family Wizard |
Ian Abercrombie (11 September 1934 – 26 January 2012) was an English actor.[1]
Abercrombie was known for playing Alfred Pennyworth in Birds of Prey. He appeared as Elaine Benes's boss, Justin Pitt, during the sixth season of Seinfeld, and Rupert Cavanaugh, Ian Hainsworth's butler, in Desperate Housewives. He is best known to this wiki for playing Professor Crumbs.
Early Life[]
Abercrombie was born on 11 September 1934 in Grays, Essex, England.[2] 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.[2] 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 US Army and stationed in 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[]
He shared two roles with actor Clive Revill. Revill was Alfred Pennyworth in early episodes of Batman (1992), a role Abercrombie played in the television series Birds of Prey (2002). Revill was also the first actor to play Palpatine, in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Abercrombie portrayed the character in the animated Clone Wars series and film. He is the second actor with the name Ian to portray Palpatine: The first was Ian McDiarmid who played Palpatine in 4 of the 6 Star Wars films as well as Lego Star Wars: The Video Game, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron.
Abercrombie was known to cult film audiences as Wiseman in the comedy horror film Army of Darkness (1993). He guest-starred in many television series such as Seinfeld, The Nanny, Wizards of Waverly Place, Airwolf, Babylon 5, and NewsRadio. He portrayed Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Sidious in the film The Clone Wars (2008) and reprised his role as Palpatine/Sidious in the television adaption from Seasons 1-5 and its two spin-off video games: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes and Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels. On the radio, he was heard in several productions of the Hollywood Theater of the Ear.[citation needed] Abercrombie voiced Ambrose in 2011's Oscar-nominated Rango. He also portrayed Ganthet in Green Lantern: The Animated Series, completing his work on the latest episode of the Cartoon Network show just before his death.[3]
Star Wars: The Clone Wars[]
Ian portrayed Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Sidious in the film The Clone Wars (2008) and reprised his role as Palpatine/Sidious in the television adaption from Seasons 1-5 and its two spin-off video games: Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes and Star Wars - The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels. During Supervising Director Dave Filoni said that Ian was very excited about the fact that Darth Sidious finally was going to be seen in person and not as a hologram anymore, during Celebration VI Filoni also mentioned that before his passing, Ian did record for most of Season 5 as both characters but did not finish and he does not want to talk about his replacement until all his recordings have been used in the series.
Death[]
Abercrombie died in Hollywood, California on January 26, 2012 at age 77, from kidney failure. During Celebration VI (August 23-26) there was a show called Vocal Stars of the Clone Wars hosted by James Arnold Taylor and it included cast members Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, Dee Bradley Baker, and Tom Kane. They all dedicated the show to Ian and that they miss him deeply.
Note: Any Disrespect to Ian Abercrombie will be immediately deleted and reported to an administrator.
Filmography[]
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 the Room Service Waiter | Uncredited |
| 1974 | Young Frankenstein | Second Villager | Uncredited |
| The Island at the Top of the World | Train Conductor | Uncredited | |
| 1977 | Sextette | Rex Ambrose | |
| 1979 | The Prisoner of Zenda | Johann | |
| 1980 | The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood | Denis | |
| Blood Beach | Man in Mayor's Office | ||
| 1981 | Getting Even | Mr. Kenwood | |
| 1983 | Flicks | Inspector | Segment: "Whodunit" |
| 1984 | The Ice Pirates | Hymie | |
| 1986 | Last Resort | Maître d' | |
| Firewalker | Boggs | ||
| 1988 | Catacombs | Brother Orsini | |
| 1989 | Warlock | Magistrate #1 | |
| 1990 | Repossessed | Iced Tea Waiter | Uncredited |
| 1991 | Zandalee | Louis Medina | |
| Puppet Master III | Dr. Hess | ||
| Rolling Thunder | |||
| 1992 | The Public Eye | Mr. Brown | |
| Army of Darkness | Wiseman | ||
| 1993 | Grief | Stanley | |
| Time Babes | Professor Doran | ||
| Addams Family Values | Driver | ||
| 1994 | Clean Slate | Leader | |
| 1995 | Pocahontas | Additional voices | Uncredited |
| 1997 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Butler | |
| Mouse Hunt | Auctioneer | ||
| 1999 | Wild Wild West | British Dignitary | |
| 2000 | Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman | Psychiatrist | Direct-to-video
Credited as Ian Ambercrombie |
| 2001 | Blasphemy the Movie | Zues | |
| Shrek | Additional voices | ||
| 2005 | Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School | Evrin Sezgin | |
| The L.A. Riot Spectacular | Auctioneer | ||
| 2006 | Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties | Smithee | |
| Inland Empire | Henry The Butler | ||
| 2007 | Trust Me | Teitelbaum | |
| Hard Four | Jack Ermine | ||
| 2008 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious | Voice |
| 2010 | Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey | Professor Swoopstikes | Short film |
| 2011 | Rango | Ambrose the Owl | Voice |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1977–1983 | Fantasy Island | McShane / Inspector Lestrade / Bartender | 3 episodes |
| 1978 | Battlestar Galactica | Forger 7 | Episode:"The Long Patrol" |
| 1981 | Knots Landing | Caterer | Episode: "Secrets" |
| 1982 | Marian Rose White | Lord Bates | Television film |
| Voyagers! | Bitiatus | Episode: "Created Equal" | |
| The Devlin Connection | Auctioneer | Episode: "The French Detective" | |
| 1983 | Happy Days | Oscar | Episode: "Hello, Pfisters" |
| Journey's End | Television film | ||
| Tucker's Witch | Doorman | Episode: "Dye Job" | |
| 1984 | Three's Company | Lawyer | Episode: "The Heiress" |
| Divorce Court | 2 episodes | ||
| 1984–1985 | Santa Barbara | Philip / Butler | 15 episodes |
| 1985 | Airwolf | Lord Killebrew | Episode: "Inn at the End of the Road" |
| Kicks | Barnes | Television film | |
| Who's The Boss? | Leo | Episode: "Angela's Ex: Part 2" | |
| 1987 | It's Garry Shandling's Show | Fate | Episode: "Fate" |
| 1988 | Frog | Dr. Fritsky | Television film |
| Hunter | George Cooper | Episode: "The Black Dahlia" | |
| 1989 | 21 Jump Street | Lemieux | Episode: "Old Haunts in the New Age" |
| Alf | British Announcer | Episode: "Mind Games" | |
| 1990 | Tales from the Crypt | Fulton | Episode: "The Switch" |
| Twin Peaks | Tom Brockman | Episode: "#2.6" | |
| The Flash | Skip | Episode: "Ghost in the Machine" | |
| 1994–1998 | Seinfeld | Justin Pitt | 7 episodes |
| 1995 | Babylon 5 | Correlilmurzon | Episode: "Acts of Sacrifice" |
| 1996 | Rattled | Dr. Semkins | Television film |
| A Face to Die For | Mr. Sturetsky | Television film | |
| Party Girl | Mr. Davenport | Episode: "Virgin Mary" | |
| 1997 | Touched by an Angel | George Taylor | Episode: "Inherit the Wind" |
| 1997–2002 | Days of Our Lives | Hotel Manager / Jeweller / Mr. Simkins / Lawyer | 4 episodes |
| 1997 | Over the Top | Nigel | Episode: "Acting Out" |
| 1998 | NewsRadio | Cadbury | Episode: "The Secret of Management" |
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Old Man / German Boss | Episode: "Homecoming" | |
| Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction | Emile | Episode: "The Mummy/The Perfect Record/Grave Sitting/Murder on the Second Floor/They Towed My Car" | |
| 1999–2000 | Star Trek: Voyager | Abbot / Milo | 2 episodes |
| 2000 | Love & Money | Arthur | Episode: "The Step Mummy" |
| 2001 | State of Grace | Donnie Thursday | Episodes: "Time in a Bottle" and "Happy Together" |
| 2002 | Crossing Jordan | George | Episode: "Acts of Mercy" |
| The Random Years | Sir Milton Pith | Episode: "Don't Make Me Have Sex in the Hamptons" | |
| Chromiumblue.com | Sir George | 13 episodes | |
| The District | Leon | Episode: "Old Wounds" | |
| 2002–2003 | Birds of Prey | Alfred Pennyworth | 14 episodes |
| 2003 | Nip/Tuck | Cyril Parks | Episode: "Escobar Gallardo" |
| 2004 | Charmed | Aramis, Member of The Tribunal | Episode: "Crimes and Witch-Demeanors" |
| 2005 | The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy | F | Voice, Episode: "Scythe 2.0" |
| 2006 | The Batman | Ewan | Voice, Episode: "The Icy Depths" |
| Desperate Housewives | Rupert Cavanaugh | Episode: "Beautiful Girls" | |
| 2007–2012 | Wizards of Waverly Place | Professor Crumbs | 10 episodes |
| 2008 | How I Met Your Mother | Benjamin Franklin | Episode: "The Goat" |
| 2008–2014 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious | Voice, 29 episodes
His death is honored at the beginning of the episode "The Lawless" |
| 2011 | Childrens Hospital | Butler | Episode: "Run, Dr. Lola Spratt, Run" |
| Happily Divorced | Victor | Episode: "Spousal Support" | |
| 2011–2013 | Green Lantern: The Animated Series | Ganthet | Voice, 5 episodes
His death is honored at the end of the episode "Regime Change" |
Awards and Nominations[]
| Awards and nominations | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2013 | BTVA Television Voice Acting Award | Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Nominated |
| 2013 | BTVA Television Voice Acting Award | Best Vocal Ensemble in a New Television Series | Green Lantern: The Animated Series | Nominated |
| 2013 | BTVA People's Choice Voice Acting Award | Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series-Action/Drama | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Winner |
| 2014 | BTVA Television Voice Acting Award | Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Guest Role - Action/Drama | Stars Wars: The Clone Wars | Winner |
External Links[]
- Ian Abercrombie on Internet Movie Database
- Ian Abercrombie on Wikipedia