LC
Lee J. Cobb
Actor
Died February 11, 1976 (64 years)
Lee J. Cobb (December 8, 1911 - February 11, 1976) ) 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.
Filmography
| 1976 | Nick the Sting · as Robert Clark |
| 1976 | La legge violenta della squadra anticrimine · as Dante Ragusa |
| 1976 | Origins of the Mafia (TV Series) · as Bartolomeo Gramignano |
| 1975 | Blood, Sweat and Fear · as Benzi |
| 1975 | That Lucky Touch · as Henry Steedman |
| 1974 | Bad Men of the West · as Judge Henry Garth |
| 1974 | Last Moments · as Twenty Years |
| 1973 | The Exorcist · as Lt. William F. Kinderman |
| 1973 | The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing · as Lapchance |
| 1973 | La polizia sta a guardare · as Jovine |
| 1973 | Double Indemnity · as Barton Keyes |
| 1972 | The Bull of the West · as Judge Garth |
| 1971 | Lawman · as Vincent Bronson |
| 1970 | The Liberation of L.B. Jones · as Oman Hedgepath |
| 1970 | Macho Callahan · as Duffy |
| 1970 | McCloud (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1969 | Mackenna's Gold · as The Editor |
| 1968 | Mafia · as Don Mariano Arena |
| 1968 | They Came to Rob Las Vegas · as Steve Skorsky |
| 1968 | Coogan's Bluff · as Lt. McElroy |
| 1967 | In Like Flint · as Lloyd C. Cramden |
| 1966 | Death of a Salesman · as Willy Loman |
| 1966 | Our Man Flint · as Cramden |
| 1965 | The Final Hour · as Judge Henry Garth |
| 1963 | Come Blow Your Horn · as Harry R. Baker |
| 1962 | How the West Was Won · as Marshal Lou Ramsey |
| 1962 | The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse · as Julio Madariaga |
| 1962 | The Devil's Children · as Judge Henry Garth |
| 1962 | The Virginian (TV Series) · as Richter Henry Garth |
| 1960 | Exodus · as Barak Ben Canaan |
| 1959 | Green Mansions · as Nuflo |
| 1959 | The Trap · as Victor Massonetti |
| 1959 | But Not for Me · as Jeremiah MacDonald |
| 1958 | Man of the West · as Dock Tobin |
| 1958 | Party Girl · as Rico Angelo |
| 1958 | The Brothers Karamazov · as Fyodor Karamazov |
| 1958 | Naked City (TV Series) · as Paul Delito |
| 1957 | The Three Faces of Eve · as Doctor Curtis Luther |
| 1957 | 12 Angry Men · as Juror 3 |
| 1956 | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit · as Judge Bernstein |
| 1956 | Zane Grey Theater (TV Series) · as Drifter - Frank MacKinnon |
| 1955 | The Left Hand of God · as Mieh Yang |
| 1955 | The Road to Denver · as Jim Donovan |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke (TV Series) · as Col. Josiah Johnson |
| 1954 | On the Waterfront · as Johnny Friendly |
| 1954 | Gorilla at Large · as Detective Sgt. Garrison |
| 1954 | Yankee Pasha · as Sultan |
| 1954 | Medic (TV Series) · as Henry Fisher |
| 1953 | The Tall Texan · as Capt. Theodore Bess |
| 1953 | General Electric Theater (TV Series) · as Dominic Roma |
| 1952 | The Fighter · as Durango |
| 1951 | Sirocco · as Col. Feroud |
| 1951 | Tales of Tomorrow (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1950 | The Man Who Cheated Himself · as Lt. Ed Cullen |
| 1950 | The Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) · as Emile Zola |
| 1949 | Thieves' Highway · as Mike Figlia |
| 1948 | Call Northside 777 · as Brian Kelly |
| 1948 | The Miracle of the Bells · as Marcus Harris |
| 1948 | The Luck of the Irish · as David C. Augur |
| 1948 | Studio One (TV Series) · as Dr. Joseph Pearson |
| 1947 | Boomerang! · as Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson |
| 1947 | Captain from Castile · as Juan Garcia |
| 1946 | Anna and the King of Siam · as Kralahome |
| 1946 | Lights Out (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1943 | The Song of Bernadette · as Dr. Dozous |
| 1943 | The Moon Is Down · as Dr. Albert Winter |
| 1943 | Buckskin Frontier · as Jeptha Marr |
| 1941 | Men of Boys Town · as Dave Morris |
| 1940 | This Thing Called Love · as Julio Diestro |
| 1939 | The Phantom Creeps · as Road Crew Foreman (archive footage) |
| 1937 | North of the Rio Grande · as President Wooden |
| 1937 | Rustlers' Valley · as Cal Howard |