Lee J. Cobb

Known for ActingBorn 1911-12-08Died 1976-02-11New York City, New York, USA

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.Read more

Movies & web series

Arthur Miller on Home Ground

Heat of Anger

The Brazen Bell

I, Don Quixote

The Devil's Children

12 Angry Men

This Thing Called Love

Origins of the Mafia

Day of Triumph

The Exorcist

On the Waterfront

The Ford Television Theatre

The Great Ice Rip-Off

The Great Kidnapping

McCloud

The Three Faces of Eve

The Day of the Owl

The Balloon Vendor

Dr. Max

The Young Lawyers

Thieves' Highway

Captain from Castile

The Final Hour

How the West Was Won

Nick the Sting

The Road to Denver

The Oscars

The Song of Bernadette

Boomerang!

The Trap

The Vanishing Shadow

Buckskin Frontier

Mark Shoots First

General Electric Theater

The Moon Is Down

Party Girl

The DuPont Show with June Allyson

Startime

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Mackenna's Gold

Exodus

Cross Shot

Gunsmoke

Call Northside 777

The Racers

Lux Video Theatre

Lawman

Man of the West