Lee J. Cobb
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Lee J. Cobb (December 8, 1911 — February 11, 1976) was an American actor. He was best known for his performances in On the Waterfront (1954), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, 12 Angry Men (1957), and 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.
Known for
Credits
12 Angry Men (1957)
as Juror 3
The Exorcist (1973)
as Lt. Bill Kinderman
How the West Was Won (1962)
as Marshal Lou Ramsey
On the Waterfront (1954)
as Johnny Friendly
Exodus (1960)
as Barak Ben Canaan
Coogan's Bluff (1968)
as Lt. McElroy
Mackenna's Gold (1969)
as The Editor
Party Girl (1958)
as Rico Angelo
Our Man Flint (1966)
as Cramden
Lawman (1971)
as Vincent Bronson
Man of the West (1958)
as Dock Tobin
The Trap (1959)
as Victor Massonetti
Sirocco (1951)
as Col. Feroud
Call Northside 777 (1948)
as Brian Kelly
Green Mansions (1959)
as Nuflo
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
as Dr. Dozous
The Brothers Karamazov (1958)
as Fyodor Karamazov
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956)
as Judge Bernstein
Thieves' Highway (1949)
as Mike Figlia
In Like Flint (1967)
as Lloyd C. Cramden
Boomerang! (1947)
as Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)
as Julio Madariaga
Miami Exposé (1956)
as Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott
Gorilla at Large (1954)
as Detective Sgt. Garrison
Golden Boy (1939)
as Mr. Bonaparte
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)
as Lapchance
The Dark Past (1948)
as Dr. Andrew Collins
Captain from Castile (1947)
as Juan Garcia
Paris Calling (1941)
as Captain Schwabe
They Came to Rob Las Vegas (1968)
as Steve Skorsky
The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970)
as Oman Hedgepath
The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950)
as Lt. Ed Cullen
The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
as Doctor Curtis Luther
Winged Victory (1944)
as Doctor
The Moon Is Down (1943)
as Dr. Albert Winter
The Road to Denver (1955)
as Jim Donovan
The Day of the Owl (1968)
as Don Mariano Arena
But Not for Me (1959)
as Jeremiah MacDonald
The Phantom Creeps (1939)
as Road Crew Foreman (archive footage)
The Garment Jungle (1957)
as Walter Mitchell
The Left Hand of God (1955)
as Mieh Yang
The Racers (1955)
as Maglio
Macho Callahan (1971)
as Duffy
The Meanest Men in the West (1978)
as Judge Henry Garth
That Lucky Touch (1975)
as Henry Steedman
The Miracle of the Bells (1948)
as Marcus Harris
The Family Secret (1951)
as Howard Clark
Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
as Kralahome
This Thing Called Love (1940)
as Julio Diestro
The Final Hour (1965)
as Judge Henry Garth
Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane (1944)
as Arthur Deeds
Men of Boys Town (1941)
as Dave Morris
The Bull of the West (1972)
as Judge Garth
Trapped Beneath the Sea (1974)
as Victor Bateman
The Luck of the Irish (1948)
as David C. Augur
Death of a Salesman (1966)
as Willy Loman
Dr. Max (1974)
as Maxwell Gordon
The Great Kidnapping (1973)
as Jovine
Come Blow Your Horn (1963)
as Harry R. Baker
Johnny O'Clock (1947)
as Inspector Koch
Tonight We Raid Calais (1943)
as Bonnard
Yankee Pasha (1954)
as Sultan
Double Indemnity (1973)
as Barton Keyes
Heat of Anger (1972)
as Frank Galvin
The Tall Texan (1953)
as Capt. Theodore Bess
Arthur Miller on Home Ground (1979)
Actor
The Fighter (1952)
as Durango
Mark Shoots First (1975)
as Il commedator Benzi
North of the Rio Grande (1937)
as President Wooden
The Vanishing Shadow (1934)
as Roadwork Foreman
Cross Shot (1976)
as Dante Ragusa
Danger on the Air (1938)
as Tony Lisotti
The Devil's Children (1962)
as Judge Henry Garth
Buckskin Frontier (1943)
as Jeptha Marr
The Balloon Vendor (1974)
as Twenty Years
Day of Triumph (1954)
as Zadok
Nick the Sting (1976)
as Robert Clark
The Great Ice Rip-Off (1974)
as Willy Calso
The Phantom Creeps (1949)
as Road Crew Foreman (uncredited)
The Brazen Bell (1964)
as Judge Henry Garth
I, Don Quixote (1959)
as Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijana
Blood, Sweat and Fear (1975)
as Benzi
Rustlers' Valley (1937)
as Cal Howard
Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man (1970)
as Himself