Acting · New York City, New York, USA · Born December 8, 1911
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.
MovieArthur Miller on Home Ground
1979
MovieThe Meanest Men in the West
1978
as Judge Henry Garth
MovieCross Shot
1976
as Dante Ragusa
TVOrigins of the Mafia
1976
as Bartolomeo Gramignano
MovieNick the Sting
1976
as Robert Clark
MovieMark Shoots First
1975
as Il commedator Benzi
MovieThat Lucky Touch
1975
as Henry Steedman
MovieBlood, Sweat and Fear
1975
as Benzi
MovieThe Balloon Vendor
1974
as Twenty Years
MovieThe Great Ice Rip-Off
1974
as Willy Calso
MovieTrapped Beneath the Sea
1974
as Victor Bateman
MovieDr. Max
1974
as Maxwell Gordon
MovieThe Exorcist
1973
as Lt. Bill Kinderman
MovieThe Great Kidnapping
1973
as Jovine
MovieDouble Indemnity
1973
as Barton Keyes
MovieThe Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
1973
as Lapchance
MovieThe Bull of the West
1972
as Judge Garth
MovieHeat of Anger
1972
as Frank Galvin
MovieLawman
1971
as Vincent Bronson
MovieMacho Callahan
1971
as Duffy
TVThe Young Lawyers
1970
MovieThe Liberation of L.B. Jones
1970
as Oman Hedgepath
MovieAnnie: The Women in the Life of a Man
1970
as Himself
TVMcCloud
1970
as Alexander Montello
MovieMackenna's Gold
1969
as The Editor
MovieCoogan's Bluff
1968
as Lt. McElroy
MovieThe Day of the Owl
1968
as Don Mariano Arena
MovieThey Came to Rob Las Vegas
1968
as Steve Skorsky
MovieIn Like Flint
1967
as Lloyd C. Cramden
MovieDeath of a Salesman
1966
as Willy Loman
MovieOur Man Flint
1966
as Cramden
MovieThe Final Hour
1965
as Judge Henry Garth
MovieThe Brazen Bell
1964
as Judge Henry Garth
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
as Ernie Wigman
MovieCome Blow Your Horn
1963
as Harry R. Baker
MovieThe Devil's Children
1962
as Judge Henry Garth
MovieHow the West Was Won
1962
as Marshal Lou Ramsey
TVThe Virginian
1962
as Richter Henry Garth
MovieThe Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
1962
as Julio Madariaga
MovieExodus
1960
as Barak Ben Canaan
I, Don Quixote
1959
as Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijana
TVThe DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as Captain Maximillian Gault
MovieBut Not for Me
1959
as Jeremiah MacDonald
MovieGreen Mansions
1959
as Nuflo
MovieThe Trap
1959
as Victor Massonetti
MovieParty Girl
1958
as Rico Angelo
TVWestinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
MovieMan of the West
1958
as Dock Tobin
TVNaked City
1958
as Paul Delito
MovieThe Brothers Karamazov
1958
as Fyodor Karamazov
MovieThe Three Faces of Eve
1957
as Doctor Curtis Luther
MovieThe Garment Jungle
1957
as Walter Mitchell
Movie12 Angry Men
1957
as Juror 3
TVDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Captain Andrew Watling
MovieMiami Exposé
1956
as Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott
MovieThe Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
1956
as Judge Bernstein
TVTony Awards
1956
as Willy Loman (archive footage)
TVGunsmoke
1955
as Col. Josiah Johnson
MovieThe Left Hand of God
1955
as Mieh Yang
MovieThe Road to Denver
1955
as Jim Donovan
MovieThe Racers
1955
as Maglio
MovieDay of Triumph
1954
as Zadok
TVMedic
1954
as Henry Fisher
MovieOn the Waterfront
1954
as Johnny Friendly
MovieGorilla at Large
1954
as Detective Sgt. Garrison
MovieYankee Pasha
1954
as Sultan
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
MovieThe Tall Texan
1953
as Capt. Theodore Bess
TVGeneral Electric Theater
1953
as Dominic Roma
TVThe Ford Television Theatre
1952
as Matt Erwin
MovieThe Fighter
1952
as Durango
MovieThe Family Secret
1951
as Howard Clark
TVTales of Tomorrow
1951
MovieSirocco
1951
as Col. Feroud
MovieThe Man Who Cheated Himself
1950
as Lt. Ed Cullen
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Emile Zola
MovieThieves' Highway
1949
as Mike Figlia
TVLights Out
1949
MovieThe Phantom Creeps
1949
as Road Crew Foreman (uncredited)
MovieThe Dark Past
1948
as Dr. Andrew Collins
TVStudio One
1948
as Dr. Joseph Pearson
MovieThe Luck of the Irish
1948
as David C. Augur
MovieThe Miracle of the Bells
1948
as Marcus Harris
MovieCall Northside 777
1948
as Brian Kelly
MovieCaptain from Castile
1947
as Juan Garcia
MovieBoomerang!
1947
as Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson
MovieJohnny O'Clock
1947
as Inspector Koch
MovieAnna and the King of Siam
1946
as Kralahome
MovieWinged Victory
1944
as Doctor
Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane
1944
as Arthur Deeds
MovieThe Song of Bernadette
1943
as Dr. Dozous
MovieBuckskin Frontier
1943
as Jeptha Marr
MovieTonight We Raid Calais
1943
as Bonnard
MovieThe Moon Is Down
1943
as Dr. Albert Winter
MovieParis Calling
1941
as Captain Schwabe
MovieMen of Boys Town
1941
as Dave Morris
MovieThis Thing Called Love
1940
as Julio Diestro
MovieGolden Boy
1939
as Mr. Bonaparte
MovieThe Phantom Creeps
1939
as Road Crew Foreman (archive footage)
MovieDanger on the Air
1938
as Tony Lisotti
MovieRustlers' Valley
1937
as Cal Howard
MovieNorth of the Rio Grande
1937
as President Wooden
MovieThe Vanishing Shadow
1934
as Roadwork Foreman
