Remembering Ian Abercrombie

Ian Abercrombie may not be a name that you recognize. You may recognize the face, but are having a hard time to really place him. Ian Abercrombie is a character actor. He's known mostly for playing butlers such as in 'Jurassic Park The Lost World' or 'Garfield a Tale of Two Kitties'. If you were ever a fan of the show 'Seinfeld' he was Elaine's boss.

So why are we here at Comic Addicts paying tribute to a butler? Ian Ambercombie made two great contributions to geek culture. Actually he's made about four or more, but there are two that truly stand out. Having said that, we'll tell you what those contributions were.

Ian Abercrombie played Alfred on the series 'Birds of Prey'. The unique aspect about Abercrombie's Alfred is that he's not playing father figure and mentor to Bruce Wayne which is how we all know and love Alfred. In 'Birds of Prey' Alfred is charged with looking after Bruce's daughter Helena, former protege Barbara, and adopted sister Dinah. Of course the three are better known as, Huntress, Oracle, and Black Canary. Abercrombie's Alfred helps to keep the trio's spirits up as well as their focus as they fight crime in a Gotham without Batman. In a way it's like Alfred got a promotion to the Playboy mansion for beautiful superheroines.

The other big contribution that Ian Abercombie made to geek culture is that he was the Wiseman in Army of Darkness. Hey, you try getting Ash to memorize, "Klatu Barrada Nicto". It's not easy. The Wiseman was charged with clearing the dark plague of the Necronomicon from the land. In the process he winds up having to babysit "The Chosen One" who messed up the magic words in the cemetary while retrieving the book.

Ian Ambercombie was also the voice of Palpatine/Darth Sidious in 'Star Wars: The Cone Wars' animated movie and series as well as the video game. Ian can be heard as Ganthet in 'Green Lantern: The Animated Series' in the episode 'Beware My Power'.

Indeed Ian Abercombie gave us a unique portrayal of Alfred as well as one of the more memorable characters in cult pop culture. Sadly though, on Thursday January 26, 2012 Ian Abercombie died from complications with kidney failure. Still, we geeks say "Thank You" and "Rest in Peace".

Ian Abercombie

September 11, 1934 - January 26, 2012

RIP