Cast & creator
Lee J. Cobb
Best known for Tony Awards, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, The Virginian
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.
Also known as: Lee Colt, Leo Jacoby, Cpl. Lee Cobb, Lee Cobb, Ли Дж. Кобб
85
film credits
23
television credits
107
1934–1979 · acting roles
6.6
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (108)
Showing 108 of 108 credits
Tony Awards
Willy Loman (archive footage)
1956Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Ernie Wigman
1963
The Virginian
Richter Henry Garth
1962The Virginian
Ritcher Henry Garth
1962
Naked City
Paul Delito
1958
Studio One
Dr. Joseph Pearson
1948
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Captain Andrew Watling
1956Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Drifter - Frank MacKinnon
1956
Gunsmoke
Col. Josiah Johnson
1955
12 Angry Men
Juror 3
1957
McCloud
Alexander Montello
1970
The Oscars
Self
1953
The Ford Television Theatre
Matt Erwin
1952
The Exorcist
Lt. Bill Kinderman
1973
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Captain Maximillian Gault
1959
Lights Out
1949Lux Video Theatre
Emile Zola
1950
Tales of Tomorrow
1951
Startime
Director
1959
How the West Was Won
Marshal Lou Ramsey
1962
On the Waterfront
Johnny Friendly
1954
Origins of the Mafia
Bartolomeo Gramignano
1976
Medic
Henry Fisher
1954
Mackenna's Gold
The Editor
1969
General Electric Theater
Dominic Roma
1953General Electric Theater
Grayson Foxhall
1953
The Song of Bernadette
Dr. Dozous
1943
The Young Lawyers
1970
Coogan's Bluff
Lt. McElroy
1968
Man of the West
Dock Tobin
1958
Party Girl
Rico Angelo
1958
Exodus
Barak Ben Canaan
1960
Sirocco
Col. Feroud
1951
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Judge Bernstein
1956
Lawman
Vincent Bronson
1971
Our Man Flint
Cramden
1966
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Karamazov
1958
The Three Faces of Eve
Doctor Curtis Luther
1957
Green Mansions
Nuflo
1959
The Left Hand of God
Mieh Yang
1955
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
Oman Hedgepath
1970
In Like Flint
Lloyd C. Cramden
1967
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Julio Madariaga
1962
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
Lapchance
1973
The Trap
Victor Massonetti
1959
But Not for Me
Jeremiah MacDonald
1959
Anna and the King of Siam
Kralahome
1946
The Day of the Owl
Don Mariano Arena
1968
Call Northside 777
Brian Kelly
1948
They Came to Rob Las Vegas
Steve Skorsky
1968
The Meanest Men in the West
Judge Henry Garth
1978
The Miracle of the Bells
Marcus Harris
1948
This Thing Called Love
Julio Diestro
1940
Come Blow Your Horn
Harry R. Baker
1963
The Luck of the Irish
David C. Augur
1948
The Moon Is Down
Dr. Albert Winter
1943
The Bull of the West
Judge Garth
1972
The Road to Denver
Jim Donovan
1955
Macho Callahan
Duffy
1971
Men of Boys Town
Dave Morris
1941
Thieves' Highway
Mike Figlia
1949
The Man Who Cheated Himself
Lt. Ed Cullen
1950
The Garment Jungle
Walter Mitchell
1957
Miami Exposé
Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott
1956
Tonight We Raid Calais
Bonnard
1943
Death of a Salesman
Willy Loman
1966
Trapped Beneath the Sea
Victor Bateman
1974Panic Button
Al Bengsten
1957
Captain from Castile
Juan Garcia
1947
Golden Boy
Mr. Bonaparte
1939
The Dark Past
Dr. Andrew Collins
1948
Mark Shoots First
Il commedator Benzi
1975
Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man
Himself
1970
Danger on the Air
Tony Lisotti
1938
Arthur Miller on Home Ground
Self - Willy Loman (archive footage)
1979
The Phantom Creeps
Road Crew Foreman (archive footage)
1939
The Great Kidnapping
Jovine
1973
Gorilla at Large
Detective Sgt. Garrison
1954
Winged Victory
Doctor
1944
Boomerang!
Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson
1947
That Lucky Touch
Henry Steedman
1975
North of the Rio Grande
President Wooden
1937
Johnny O'Clock
Inspector Koch
1947
The Devil's Children
Judge Henry Garth
1962
The Great Ice Rip-Off
Willy Calso
1974
The Racers
Maglio
1955
The Balloon Vendor
Twenty Years
1974
Nick the Sting
Robert Clark
1976
Dr. Max
Maxwell Gordon
1974
Heat of Anger
Frank Galvin
1972
The Tall Texan
Capt. Theodore Bess
1953
Double Indemnity
Barton Keyes
1973
Yankee Pasha
Sultan
1954
Cross Shot
Dante Ragusa
1976
The Family Secret
Howard Clark
1951
Paris Calling
Schwabe
1941
The Phantom Creeps
Road Crew Foreman (uncredited)
1949
The Brazen Bell
Judge Henry Garth
1964
Blood, Sweat and Fear
Benzi
1975
The Final Hour
Judge Henry Garth
1965
The Fighter
Durango
1952
Buckskin Frontier
Jeptha Marr
1943Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane
Arthur Deeds
1944I, Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijana
1959
The Vanishing Shadow
Roadwork Foreman
1934
Day of Triumph
Zadok
1954
Rustlers' Valley
Cal Howard
1937