Ian Abercrombie, <em>Seinfeld's</em> Mr. Pitt, Dies At 77

Ian Abercrombie, the veteran British character actor best known for playing Elaine Benes' boss Mr. Pitt on Seinfeld, has died. Abercrombie appeared in dozens of other parts over his 50-plus-year career. He was 77.

Abercrombie made his American stage debut in 1955 in a production of Stalag 17. He played the Wise Man in Sam Raimi’s comedy-horror film Army of Darkness (1972) and was 800-year-old wizard Professor Crumbs on Disney Channel Wizards of Waverly Place most recently. He had parts in TV shows including "Columbo" (1972), "Who's The Boss" (1985), "Dynasty" (1984-1988), "Birds Of Prey" (2002-2003) and "Desperate Housewives" (2006). He lent his voice to Palpatine/Darth Sidious on the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, did voice work on Rango last year as well.

But most New Yorkers will best remember Abercrombie for his portrayal of Justin Pitt in seven episodes of Seinfeld (six of which occurred during the sixth season). He was the extremely wealthy business owner who hired Elaine because she resembled Jackie Onassis. Among other things, he was very persnickety about his white knee socks and eating his candy bars with a knife and fork. He eventually fired Elaine after he became convinced she had tried to murder him, with Jerry as her accomplice. There was also his obsession with the 3-D painting, which through a series of inky mishaps, led to perhaps his most famous moment on the show: