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