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.
103 acting credits · 1 directing credit
Acting · 103
The Virginian
1962
Naked City
1958
Tony Awards
1956
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
12 Angry Men
1957
Studio One
1948
Gunsmoke
1955
The Oscars
1953
McCloud
1970
The Exorcist
1973
The Ford Television Theatre
1952
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Lights Out
1949
Tales of Tomorrow
1951
Lux Video Theatre
1950
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
Medic
1954
On the Waterfront
1954
How the West Was Won
1962
General Electric Theater
1953
Exodus
1960
Origins of the Mafia
1976
Mackenna's Gold
1969
The Brothers Karamazov
1958
Coogan's Bluff
1968
In Like Flint
1967
Lawman
1971
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
1962
The Song of Bernadette
1943
Man of the West
1958
Our Man Flint
1966
The Three Faces of Eve
1957
Sirocco
1951
The Young Lawyers
1970
Call Northside 777
1948
Party Girl
1958
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
1956
The Miracle of the Bells
1948
The Trap
1959
Thieves' Highway
1949
Boomerang!
1947
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
1973
The Meanest Men in the West
1978
The Phantom Creeps
1939
The Man Who Cheated Himself
1950
They Came to Rob Las Vegas
1968
Golden Boy
1939
Green Mansions
1959
Paris Calling
1941
The Day of the Owl
1968
The Dark Past
1948
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
1970
Danger on the Air
1938
Anna and the King of Siam
1946
Winged Victory
1944
The Bull of the West
1972
Gorilla at Large
1954
Come Blow Your Horn
1963
The Left Hand of God
1955
Death of a Salesman
1966
Yankee Pasha
1954
The Garment Jungle
1957
Captain from Castile
1947
The Luck of the Irish
1948
The Racers
1955
The Fighter
1952
Johnny O'Clock
1947
Double Indemnity
1973
That Lucky Touch
1975
The Moon Is Down
1943
The Road to Denver
1955
Men of Boys Town
1941
The Tall Texan
1953
But Not for Me
1959
The Family Secret
1951
The Vanishing Shadow
1934
Macho Callahan
1971
Cross Shot
1976
Trapped Beneath the Sea
1974
Mark Shoots First
1975
Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man
1970
The Phantom Creeps
1949
Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane
1944
North of the Rio Grande
1937
Tonight We Raid Calais
1943
Miami Exposé
1956
The Balloon Vendor
1974
Nick the Sting
1976
The Great Ice Rip-Off
1974
Rustlers' Valley
1937
Buckskin Frontier
1943
This Thing Called Love
1940
The Great Kidnapping
1973
Blood, Sweat and Fear
1975
Heat of Anger
1972
The Devil's Children
1962
Dr. Max
1974
The Brazen Bell
1964
The Final Hour
1965
I, Don Quixote
1959
Day of Triumph
1954
Arthur Miller on Home Ground
1979
