Television

Lou Cutell, ‘Seinfeld’ Character Actor, Dies at 91

Lou Cutell, a prolific character actor known for portraying proctologist Dr. “Assman” Cooperman on “Seinfeld” and Big Larry in “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” has died. He was 91.

Cutell also played Dr. Brainard in “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” and Abe on “Grey’s Anatomy.”

His friend Mark Furman announced the news on Facebook.

Furman posted about Cutell on his social media on Sunday, writing, “After 91 years, and a great life, my friend Lou Cutell went home. A film, theater and character actor. Big Larry in ‘Pee Wee’s Big Adventure,’ Ass Man in ‘Seinfeld,’ Abe in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ S12, E4. He took me to Lucille Ball’s house in 1986. Rest in peace Lou.”

“Besides my own film, my favorite thing Lou acted in was when he played an alien doctor in 1965’s ‘Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster.’ In real life, he was wonderful—sweet, caring and unassuming. He was also slyly and wickedly funny,” reads a thread shared by the official Pee-wee Herman Twitter account. Cutell played The Amazing Larry in “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.”

Born on Oct. 6, 1930 in New York City, Cutell started his career in the theater. He played William Berry in “The Young Abe Lincoln,” which had a brief run on Broadway in 1961 and played Off-Broadway as well.

Alongside theater, Cutell had a screen career spanning more than 30 years, appearing in guest roles on classic TV series including “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Wild Wild West,” “The Golden Girls,” “Newhart” and “My Three Sons,” among many others. He had a featured role as Dr. Nadir in sci fi comedy “Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster.”

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“Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster”
Courtesy Everett Collection

Cutell played the role of Dr. Howard Cooperman in the 1996 “Seinfeld” episode, “The Fusilli Jerry.” The episode featured Kramer (Michael Richards) picking up his new license plates at the DMV — only to find that they are someone else’s vanity plates that read “ASSMAN.” Kramer, guess that the plates might belong to a proctologist, finds out by chance that they belong to Dr. Cooperman.

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