Lee J. Cobb was an American actor best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men (1957), his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront, and one of his last films, The Exorcist (1973). He also played the role of Willy Loman in the original Broadway production of Arthur Miller's 1949 play Death of a Salesman under the direction of Elia Kazan. On television, Cobb costarred in the first four seasons of the popular, long-running western series The Virginian. He typically played arrogant, intimidating, and abrasive characters, but often had roles as respectable figures such as judges. Born Leo Jacob in New York City, he grew up in The Bronx, before studying at New York University and making his film debut in The Vanishing Shadow (1934). Cobb performed in numerous theater productions and companies, including Group Theatre (New York) before serving in the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force during World War II. Following the war, Cobb returned to film, television and theater before being accused of being a Communist in 1951 testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee by Larry Parks, himself a former Communist Party member. Cobb was called to testify before HUAC but refused to do so for two years until, with his career threatened by the blacklist, he relented in 1953 and gave testimony in which he named 20 people as former members of the Communist Party USA. Following the hearing he resumed his career and worked with Elia Kazan and Budd Schulberg, two other HUAC "friendly witnesses", on the 1954 film On the Waterfront, which is widely seen as an allegory and apologia for testifying. His 1968 performance as King Lear achieved the longest run (72 performances) for the play in Broadway history. One of his final film roles was that of police detective Lt. Kinderman in the 1973 horror film The Exorcist. Cobb died of a heart attack in February 1976 in Woodland Hills, California, and was buried in Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. He was survived by his second wife, Mary Hirsch, and daughter, also an accomplished actress, Julie Cobb.
Movie | The Meanest Men in the West | Judge Henry Garth | 1978-05-04 |
Series | Origins of the Mafia | Bartolomeo Gramignano | 1976-11-19 |
Movie | Nick the Sting | Robert Clark | 1976-09-14 |
Movie | Cross Shot | Dante Ragusa | 1976-12-30 |
Movie | Blood, Sweat and Fear | Benzi | 1975-08-01 |
Movie | That Lucky Touch | Henry Steedman | 1975-08-07 |
Movie | Mark Shoots First | Il commedator Benzi | 1975-12-22 |
Movie | The Great Ice Rip-Off | Willy Calso | 1974-11-06 |
Movie | Trapped Beneath the Sea | Victor Bateman | 1974-10-22 |
Movie | The Balloon Vendor | Twenty Years | 1974-12-21 |
Movie | The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing | Lapchance | 1973-06-28 |
Movie | The Exorcist | Lt. Bill Kinderman | 1973-12-26 |
Movie | Double Indemnity | Barton Keyes | 1973-10-13 |
Movie | The Bull of the West | Judge Garth | 1972-05-04 |
Movie | Lawman | Vincent Bronson | 1971-03-11 |
Movie | Macho Callahan | Duffy | 1971-02-28 |
Movie | The Liberation of L.B. Jones | Oman Hedgepath | 1970-03-18 |
Series | The Young Lawyers | 1970-09-21 | |
Movie | Mackenna's Gold | The Editor | 1969-03-18 |
Movie | They Came to Rob Las Vegas | Steve Skorsky | 1968-02-07 |
Movie | The Day of the Owl | Don Mariano Arena | 1968-02-17 |
Movie | In Like Flint | Lloyd C. Cramden | 1967-03-15 |
Movie | Our Man Flint | Cramden | 1966-01-16 |
Movie | Death of a Salesman | Willy Loman | 1966-05-07 |
Movie | The Final Hour | Judge Henry Garth | 1965-05-27 |
Movie | The Brazen Bell | Judge Henry Garth | 1964-03-18 |
Movie | Come Blow Your Horn | Harry R. Baker | 1963-06-05 |
Series | The Virginian | Richter Henry Garth | 1962-09-19 |
Movie | The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Julio Madariaga | 1962-02-07 |
Movie | How the West Was Won | Marshal Lou Ramsey | 1962-11-02 |
Movie | The Devil's Children | Judge Henry Garth | 1962-12-05 |
Movie | Exodus | Barak Ben Canaan | 1960-12-15 |
Movie | The Trap | Victor Massonetti | 1959-01-28 |
Movie | But Not for Me | Jeremiah MacDonald | 1959-08-19 |
Series | The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Unknown | 1959-09-21 |
Movie | I, Don Quixote | Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijana | 1959-11-09 |
Movie | Man of the West | Dock Tobin | 1958-06-20 |
Movie | The Brothers Karamazov | Fyodor Karamazov | 1958-02-20 |
Series | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | Unknown | 1958-10-06 |
Movie | Party Girl | Rico Angelo | 1958-10-28 |
Movie | 12 Angry Men | Juror 3 | 1957-04-10 |
Movie | The Garment Jungle | Walter Mitchell | 1957-05-01 |
Movie | Panic Button | Al Bengsten | 1957-11-28 |
Movie | The Three Faces of Eve | Doctor Curtis Luther | 1957-12-19 |
Movie | Miami Exposé | Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott | 1956-09-01 |
Movie | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit | Judge Bernstein | 1956-04-12 |
Series | Playhouse 90 | Unknown | 1956-10-04 |
Movie | The Racers | Maglio | 1955-02-04 |
Movie | The Road to Denver | Jim Donovan | 1955-06-15 |
Series | Gunsmoke | Unknown | 1955-09-10 |
Movie | Yankee Pasha | Sultan | 1954-04-17 |
Movie | On the Waterfront | Johnny Friendly | 1954-06-22 |
Movie | Gorilla at Large | Detective Sgt. Garrison | 1954-05-01 |
Movie | Day of Triumph | Zadok | 1954-12-25 |
Series | Medic | Unknown | 1954-09-13 |
Series | General Electric Theater | Unknown | 1953-02-01 |
Movie | The Tall Texan | Capt. Theodore Bess | 1953-02-13 |
Movie | The Fighter | Durango | 1952-05-23 |
Movie | Sirocco | Col. Feroud | 1951-06-13 |
Movie | The Family Secret | Howard Clark | 1951-10-21 |
Series | Lux Video Theatre | Unknown | 1950-10-02 |
Movie | The Man Who Cheated Himself | Lt. Ed Cullen | 1950-12-26 |
Movie | Thieves' Highway | Mike Figlia | 1949-09-20 |
Movie | Call Northside 777 | Brian Kelly | 1948-02-13 |
Movie | The Miracle of the Bells | Marcus Harris | 1948-03-27 |
Series | Studio One | Unknown | 1948-11-07 |
Movie | The Luck of the Irish | David C. Augur | 1948-09-15 |
Movie | Boomerang! | Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson | 1947-02-28 |
Movie | Johnny O'Clock | Inspector Koch | 1947-01-07 |
Movie | Captain from Castile | Juan Garcia | 1947-12-25 |
Movie | Anna and the King of Siam | Kralahome | 1946-08-11 |
Movie | Winged Victory | Doctor | 1944-12-22 |
Movie | Tonight We Raid Calais | Bonnard | 1943-04-30 |
Movie | The Moon Is Down | Dr. Albert Winter | 1943-03-14 |
Movie | Buckskin Frontier | Jeptha Marr | 1943-05-14 |
Movie | The Song of Bernadette | Dr. Dozous | 1943-12-21 |
Movie | Men of Boys Town | Dave Morris | 1941-04-11 |
Movie | Paris Calling | Captain Schwabe | 1941-12-04 |
Movie | This Thing Called Love | Julio Diestro | 1940-12-20 |
Movie | The Phantom Creeps | Road Crew Foreman (archive footage) | 1939-01-07 |
Movie | Golden Boy | Mr. Bonaparte | 1939-09-05 |
Movie | Danger on the Air | Tony Lisotti | 1938-06-30 |
Movie | North of the Rio Grande | President Wooden | 1937-06-28 |
Movie | Rustlers' Valley | Cal Howard | 1937-07-23 |
Movie | The Vanishing Shadow | Roadwork Foreman | 1934-04-22 |
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