Name
Lee J. Cobb
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1911-12-08
Deathday
1976-02-11 (65 years old)
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Biography
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
7.7
When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic...
8.575
The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to d...
7.85
A prizefighter-turned-longshoreman with a conscience goes up against labor leaders to expo...
6.983
The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War...
6.8
Slick lawyer Thomas Farrell has made a career of defending mobsters in trials. It's not un...
6.579
A bandit kidnaps a Marshal who has seen a map showing a gold vein on Indian lands, but oth...
7.1
Set in Sicily, this violent crime drama tells the tale of an Italian cop who heads to a sm...
- 1954 On the Waterfront as Johnny Friendly
- 1960 Exodus as Barak Ben Canaan
- 1949 Thieves' Highway as Mike Figlia
- 1951 Sirocco as Col. Feroud
- 1967 In Like Flint as Lloyd C. Cramden
- 1966 Our Man Flint as Cramden
- 1957 The Garment Jungle as Walter Mitchell
- 1962 How the West Was Won as Marshal Lou Ramsey
- 1958 Party Girl as Rico Angelo
- 1973 The Exorcist as Lt. Bill Kinderman
- 1948 Call Northside 777 as Brian Kelly
- 1963 Come Blow Your Horn as Harry R. Baker
- 1968 Coogan's Bluff as Lt. McElroy
- 1943 Tonight We Raid Calais as Bonnard
- 1956 The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit as Judge Bernstein
- 1957 The Three Faces of Eve as Doctor Curtis Luther
- 1973 The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing as Lapchance
- 1971 Lawman as Vincent Bronson
- 1956 Miami Exposé as Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott
- 1958 Man of the West as Dock Tobin
- 1958 The Brothers Karamazov as Fyodor Karamazov
- 1948 The Dark Past as Dr. Andrew Collins
- 1948 The Miracle of the Bells as Marcus Harris
- 1946 Anna and the King of Siam as Kralahome
- 1943 The Song of Bernadette as Dr. Dozous
- 1939 Golden Boy as Mr. Bonaparte
- 1947 Captain from Castile as Juan Garcia
- 1955 The Left Hand of God as Mieh Yang
- 1950 The Man Who Cheated Himself as Lt. Ed Cullen
- 1969 Mackenna's Gold as The Editor
- 1947 Boomerang! as Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson
- 1947 Johnny O'Clock as Inspector Koch
- 1937 North of the Rio Grande as President Wooden
- 1937 Rustlers' Valley as Cal Howard
- 1962 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as Julio Madariaga
- 1959 The Trap as Victor Massonetti
- 1954 Gorilla at Large as Detective Sgt. Garrison
- 1973 The Great Kidnapping as Jovine
- 1973 Double Indemnity as Barton Keyes
- 1968 The Day of the Owl as Don Mariano Arena
- 1970 The Liberation of L.B. Jones as Oman Hedgepath
- 1941 Paris Calling as Schwabe
- 1959 But Not for Me as Jeremiah MacDonald
- 1968 They Came to Rob Las Vegas as Steve Skorsky
- 1948 The Luck of the Irish as David C. Augur
- 1972 The Bull of the West as Judge Garth
- 1943 The Moon Is Down as Dr. Albert Winter
- 1943 Buckskin Frontier as Jeptha Marr
- 1954 Yankee Pasha as Sultan
- 1934 The Vanishing Shadow as Roadwork Foreman
- 1955 The Racers as Maglio
- 1978 The Meanest Men in the West as Judge Henry Garth
- 1944 Winged Victory as Doctor
- 1976 Cross Shot as Dante Ragusa
- 1955 The Road to Denver as Jim Donovan
- 1940 This Thing Called Love as Julio Diestro
- 1974 The Great Ice Rip-Off as Willy Calso
- 1966 Death of a Salesman as Willy Loman
- 1951 The Family Secret as Howard Clark
- 1938 Danger on the Air as Tony Lisotti
- 1953 The Tall Texan as Capt. Theodore Bess
- 1974 The Balloon Vendor as Twenty Years
- 1974 Trapped Beneath the Sea as Victor Bateman
- 1952 The Fighter as Durango
- 1939 The Phantom Creeps as Road Crew Foreman (archive footage)
- 1971 Macho Callahan as Duffy
- 1975 Mark Shoots First as Il commedator Benzi
- 1954 Day of Triumph as Zadok
- 1976 Nick the Sting as Robert Clark
- 1962 The Devil's Children as Judge Henry Garth
- 1964 The Brazen Bell as Judge Henry Garth
- 1965 The Final Hour as Judge Henry Garth
- 1975 That Lucky Touch as Henry Steedman
- 1975 Blood, Sweat and Fear as Benzi
- 1959 I, Don Quixote as Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijana
- 1941 Men of Boys Town as Dave Morris
- 1959 Green Mansions as Nuflo
- 1970 Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man as Himself
- 1944 Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane as Arthur Deeds
- 1972 Heat of Anger as Frank Galvin
- 1957 12 Angry Men as Juror 3
- 1974 Dr. Max as Maxwell Gordon
- 1949 The Phantom Creeps as Road Crew Foreman (uncredited)
- 1979 Arthur Miller on Home Ground as Self - Willy Loman (archive footage)
- 1957 Panic Button as Al Bengsten
- 1955 Gunsmoke ( 1 episode ) as Col. Josiah Johnson
- 1958 Naked City ( 1 episode ) as Paul Delito
- 1948 Studio One ( 2 episodes ) as Dr. Joseph Pearson
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Dominic Roma
- 1958 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse ( 1 episode )
- 1962 The Virginian ( 90 episodes ) as Richter Henry Garth
- 1950 Lux Video Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Emile Zola
- 1963 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Ernie Wigman
- 1954 Medic ( 1 episode ) as Henry Fisher
- 1970 The Young Lawyers ( 24 episodes )
- 1956 Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Captain Andrew Watling
- 1951 Tales of Tomorrow ( 1 episode )
- 1949 Lights Out ( 1 episode )
- 1953 The Oscars ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1959 The DuPont Show with June Allyson ( 1 episode ) as Captain Maximillian Gault
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Grayson Foxhall
- 1956 Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Drifter - Frank MacKinnon
- 1962 The Virginian ( 30 episodes ) as Ritcher Henry Garth
- 1952 The Ford Television Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Matt Erwin
- 1970 McCloud ( 1 episode ) as Alexander Montello
- 1956 Tony Awards ( 1 episode ) as Willy Loman (archive footage)
- 1976 Origins of the Mafia ( 1 episode ) as Bartolomeo Gramignano
