Lee J. Cobb
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
Studio One
Dr. Joseph Pearson
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Tales of Tomorrow
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Captain Andrew Watling
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Drifter - Frank MacKinnon
The Ford Television Theatre
Matt Erwin
Tony Awards
Willy Loman (archive footage)
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Captain Maximillian Gault
McCloud
The Oscars
Self
The Virginian
Richter Henry Garth
The Virginian
Ritcher Henry Garth
Naked City
Paul Delito
Medic
Henry Fisher
Lights Out
Gunsmoke
Col. Josiah Johnson
12 Angry Men
Juror 3
The Young Lawyers
Origins of the Mafia
Bartolomeo Gramignano
The Exorcist
Lt. Bill Kinderman
Lux Video Theatre
Emile Zola
On the Waterfront
Johnny Friendly
General Electric Theater
Dominic Roma
General Electric Theater
Grayson Foxhall
Man of the West
Dock Tobin
Exodus
Barak Ben Canaan
How the West Was Won
Marshal Lou Ramsey
Lawman
Vincent Bronson
Mackenna's Gold
The Editor
Coogan's Bluff
Lt. McElroy
The Song of Bernadette
Dr. Dozous
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Karamazov
The Left Hand of God
Mieh Yang
The Man Who Cheated Himself
Lt. Ed Cullen
In Like Flint
Lloyd C. Cramden
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Julio Madariaga
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Judge Bernstein
Call Northside 777
Brian Kelly
The Three Faces of Eve
Doctor Curtis Luther
Party Girl
Rico Angelo
Thieves' Highway
Mike Figlia
Our Man Flint
Cramden
Macho Callahan
Duffy
Golden Boy
Mr. Bonaparte
Boomerang!
Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
Lapchance
The Luck of the Irish
David C. Augur
The Garment Jungle
Walter Mitchell
Sirocco
Col. Feroud
Buckskin Frontier
Jeptha Marr
The Meanest Men in the West
Judge Henry Garth
The Day of the Owl
Don Mariano Arena
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
Oman Hedgepath
Captain from Castile
Juan Garcia
The Bull of the West
Judge Garth
The Phantom Creeps
Road Crew Foreman (archive footage)
Johnny O'Clock
Inspector Koch
Cross Shot
Dante Ragusa
Green Mansions
Nuflo
The Family Secret
Howard Clark
Anna and the King of Siam
Kralahome
Gorilla at Large
Detective Sgt. Garrison
The Road to Denver
Jim Donovan
The Miracle of the Bells
Marcus Harris
The Dark Past
Dr. Andrew Collins
The Trap
Victor Massonetti
Double Indemnity
Barton Keyes
Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
Self (archive footage)
The Great Kidnapping
Jovine
The Moon Is Down
Dr. Albert Winter
Miami Exposé
Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott
Yankee Pasha
Sultan
Come Blow Your Horn
Harry R. Baker
They Came to Rob Las Vegas
Steve Skorsky
Winged Victory
Doctor
The Racers
Maglio
The Vanishing Shadow
Roadwork Foreman
Men of Boys Town
Dave Morris
But Not for Me
Jeremiah MacDonald
Nick the Sting
Robert Clark
That Lucky Touch
Henry Steedman
Heat of Anger
Frank Galvin
Dr. Max
Maxwell Gordon
Paris Calling
Captain Schwabe
The Final Hour
Judge Henry Garth
The Balloon Vendor
Twenty Years
Day of Triumph
Zadok
The Tall Texan
Capt. Theodore Bess
This Thing Called Love
Julio Diestro
The Phantom Creeps
Road Crew Foreman (uncredited)
Tonight We Raid Calais
Bonnard
Danger on the Air
Tony Lisotti
North of the Rio Grande
President Wooden
Trapped Beneath the Sea
Victor Bateman
Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man
Himself
The Great Ice Rip-Off
Willy Calso
Mark Shoots First
Il commedator Benzi
Death of a Salesman
Willy Loman
Blood, Sweat and Fear
Benzi
Rustlers' Valley
Cal Howard
I, Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijana
The Devil's Children
Judge Henry Garth
Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane
Arthur Deeds
The Brazen Bell
Judge Henry Garth
The Fighter
Durango
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Ernie Wigman