On Thursday, veteran British actor Ian Abercromie passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 77. Abercromie is best known as the voice of the evil Chancellor Palpatine in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
"Though he played a villain on our show, you would be hard pressed to meet a kinder person" supervising producer Dave Filoni said to the media. "He loved to laugh and his sense of humor always lightened our record sessions. I will miss his stories, I will miss his performances, and I will miss his contribution to our show."
But it was his recurring role as Elaine's boss Justin Pitt on NBC's Seinfeld that cemented Abercromie's pop culture status, as well as the role of Alfred Pennyworth on the short-lived Birds of Prey (2002-03, WB), where the character continued to served as butler and father figure to New Gotham superheroines Barbara Gordon/Oracle (Dina Meyer), Helena Kyle/Huntress (Ashley Scott), and Dinah Lance/Black Canary (Rachel Skarsten) -- just like Bruce Wayne/Batman.
Abercromie recently had a recurring role as Professor Crumbs on Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place, and was the voice of owl Ambrose in last year's Rango with Johnny Depp.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Abercromie died from complications of kidney failure following a recent diagnosis of lymphoma.
Abercromie is survived by brothers Douglas, Donald, and Alex.
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