1911-12-08 New York City, New York, USA
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.
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Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist | Self (archive footage) | 2023-10-05 |
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The Meanest Men in the West | Judge Henry Garth | 1978-05-04 |
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La Legge Violenta Della Squadra Anticrimine | Dante Ragusa | 1976-12-30 |
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Gli amici di Nick Hezard | Robert Clark | 1976-09-14 |
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That Lucky Touch | Henry Steedman | 1975-08-07 |
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Mark il poliziotto spara per primo | Il commedator Benzi | 1975-12-22 |
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Mark il poliziotto | Benzi | 1975-08-01 |
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Dr. Max | Maxwell Gordon | 1974-04-04 |
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Il venditore di palloncini | Twenty Years | 1974-12-21 |
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The Great Ice Rip-Off | Willy Calso | 1974-11-06 |
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Trapped Beneath the Sea | Victor Bateman | 1974-10-22 |
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The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing | Lapchance | 1973-06-28 |
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Double Indemnity | Barton Keyes | 1973-10-13 |
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La polizia sta a guardare | Jovine | 1973-11-16 |
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The Exorcist | Lt. Bill Kinderman | 1973-12-26 |
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The Bull of the West | Judge Garth | 1972-05-04 |
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Heat of Anger | Frank Galvin | 1972-03-03 |
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Macho Callahan | Duffy | 1971-02-28 |
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Lawman | Vincent Bronson | 1971-03-11 |
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The Liberation of L.B. Jones | Oman Hedgepath | 1970-03-18 |
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Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man | Himself | 1970-02-18 |
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Mackenna's Gold | The Editor | 1969-03-18 |
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Coogan's Bluff | Lt. McElroy | 1968-10-02 |
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Las Vegas: 500 millones | Steve Skorsky | 1968-02-07 |
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Il giorno della civetta | Don Mariano Arena | 1968-02-17 |
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In Like Flint | Lloyd C. Cramden | 1967-03-15 |
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Death of a Salesman | Willy Loman | 1966-05-07 |
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Our Man Flint | Cramden | 1966-01-16 |
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The Final Hour | Judge Henry Garth | 1965-05-27 |
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The Brazen Bell | Judge Henry Garth | 1964-03-18 |
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Come Blow Your Horn | Harry R. Baker | 1963-06-05 |
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The Devil's Children | Judge Henry Garth | 1962-12-05 |
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The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Julio Madariaga | 1962-02-07 |
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How the West Was Won | Marshal Lou Ramsey | 1962-11-02 |
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Exodus | Barak Ben Canaan | 1960-12-15 |
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The Trap | Victor Massonetti | 1959-01-28 |
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I, Don Quixote | Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijana | 1959-11-09 |
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But Not for Me | Jeremiah MacDonald | 1959-08-19 |
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Green Mansions | Nuflo | 1959-03-19 |
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The Brothers Karamazov | Fyodor Karamazov | 1958-02-20 |
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Man of the West | Dock Tobin | 1958-06-20 |
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Party Girl | Rico Angelo | 1958-10-28 |
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The Garment Jungle | Walter Mitchell | 1957-05-01 |
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The Three Faces of Eve | Doctor Curtis Luther | 1957-12-19 |
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12 Angry Men | Juror 3 | 1957-04-10 |
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Miami Exposé | Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott | 1956-09-01 |
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The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit | Judge Bernstein | 1956-04-12 |
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The Road to Denver | Jim Donovan | 1955-06-15 |
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The Left Hand of God | Mieh Yang | 1955-09-02 |
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The Racers | Maglio | 1955-02-04 |
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On the Waterfront | Johnny Friendly | 1954-06-22 |
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Gorilla at Large | Detective Sgt. Garrison | 1954-05-01 |
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Yankee Pasha | Sultan | 1954-04-17 |
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Day of Triumph | Zadok | 1954-12-25 |
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The Tall Texan | Capt. Theodore Bess | 1953-02-13 |
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The Fighter | Durango | 1952-05-23 |
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Sirocco | Col. Feroud | 1951-06-13 |
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The Family Secret | Howard Clark | 1951-10-21 |
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The Man Who Cheated Himself | Lt. Ed Cullen | 1950-12-26 |
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Thieves' Highway | Mike Figlia | 1949-09-20 |
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The Phantom Creeps | Road Crew Foreman (uncredited) | 1949-06-06 |
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The Luck of the Irish | David C. Augur | 1948-09-15 |
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The Miracle of the Bells | Marcus Harris | 1948-03-27 |
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Call Northside 777 | Brian Kelly | 1948-02-13 |
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The Dark Past | Dr. Andrew Collins | 1948-12-22 |
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Captain from Castile | Juan Garcia | 1947-12-25 |
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Johnny O'Clock | Inspector Koch | 1947-01-07 |
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Boomerang! | Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson | 1947-02-28 |
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Anna and the King of Siam | Kralahome | 1946-08-11 |
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Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane | Arthur Deeds | 1944-03-13 |
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Winged Victory | Doctor | 1944-12-22 |
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Tonight We Raid Calais | Bonnard | 1943-04-30 |
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Buckskin Frontier | Jeptha Marr | 1943-05-14 |
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The Song of Bernadette | Dr. Dozous | 1943-12-21 |
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The Moon Is Down | Dr. Albert Winter | 1943-03-14 |
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Men of Boys Town | Dave Morris | 1941-04-11 |
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Paris Calling | Captain Schwabe | 1941-12-04 |
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This Thing Called Love | Julio Diestro | 1940-12-20 |
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Golden Boy | Mr. Bonaparte | 1939-09-05 |
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The Phantom Creeps | Road Crew Foreman (archive footage) | 1939-01-07 |
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Danger on the Air | Tony Lisotti | 1938-06-30 |
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North of the Rio Grande | President Wooden | 1937-06-28 |
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Rustlers' Valley | Cal Howard | 1937-07-23 |
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The Vanishing Shadow | Roadwork Foreman | 1934-04-22 |
