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