Lee J. Cobb
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.
Acted in
Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
2023
as Self (archive footage)
The Meanest Men in the West
1978
as Judge Henry Garth
Cross Shot
1976
as Dante Ragusa
Origins of the Mafia
1976
as Bartolomeo Gramignano
Nick the Sting
1976
as Robert Clark
Mark Shoots First
1975
as Il commedator Benzi
That Lucky Touch
1975
as Henry Steedman
Blood, Sweat and Fear
1975
as Benzi
The Balloon Vendor
1974
as Twenty Years
The Great Ice Rip-Off
1974
as Willy Calso
Trapped Beneath the Sea
1974
as Victor Bateman
Dr. Max
1974
as Maxwell Gordon
The Exorcist
1973
as Lt. Bill Kinderman
The Great Kidnapping
1973
as Jovine
Double Indemnity
1973
as Barton Keyes
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
1973
as Lapchance
The Bull of the West
1972
as Judge Garth
Heat of Anger
1972
as Frank Galvin
Lawman
1971
as Vincent Bronson
Macho Callahan
1971
as Duffy
The Young Lawyers
1970
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
1970
as Oman Hedgepath
Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man
1970
as Himself
McCloud
1970
Mackenna's Gold
1969
as The Editor
Coogan's Bluff
1968
as Lt. McElroy
The Day of the Owl
1968
as Don Mariano Arena
They Came to Rob Las Vegas
1968
as Steve Skorsky
In Like Flint
1967
as Lloyd C. Cramden
Death of a Salesman
1966
as Willy Loman
Our Man Flint
1966
as Cramden
The Final Hour
1965
as Judge Henry Garth
The Brazen Bell
1964
as Judge Henry Garth
Come Blow Your Horn
1963
as Harry R. Baker
The Devil's Children
1962
as Judge Henry Garth
How the West Was Won
1962
as Marshal Lou Ramsey
The Virginian
1962
as Richter Henry Garth
The Virginian
1962
as Ritcher Henry Garth
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
1962
as Julio Madariaga
Exodus
1960
as Barak Ben Canaan
I, Don Quixote
1959
as Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijana
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as Captain Maximillian Gault
But Not for Me
1959
as Jeremiah MacDonald
Green Mansions
1959
as Nuflo
The Trap
1959
as Victor Massonetti
Party Girl
1958
as Rico Angelo
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Naked City
1958
as Paul Delito
Man of the West
1958
as Dock Tobin
The Brothers Karamazov
1958
as Fyodor Karamazov
The Three Faces of Eve
1957
as Doctor Curtis Luther
The Garment Jungle
1957
as Walter Mitchell
12 Angry Men
1957
as Juror 3
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Captain Andrew Watling
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Drifter - Frank MacKinnon
Miami Exposé
1956
as Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
1956
as Judge Bernstein
Tony Awards
1956
as Willy Loman (archive footage)
Gunsmoke
1955
as Col. Josiah Johnson
The Left Hand of God
1955
as Mieh Yang
The Road to Denver
1955
as Jim Donovan
The Racers
1955
as Maglio
Day of Triumph
1954
as Zadok
Medic
1954
as Henry Fisher
On the Waterfront
1954
as Johnny Friendly
Gorilla at Large
1954
as Detective Sgt. Garrison
Yankee Pasha
1954
as Sultan
The Oscars
1953
as Self
The Tall Texan
1953
as Capt. Theodore Bess
General Electric Theater
1953
as Dominic Roma
General Electric Theater
1953
as Grayson Foxhall
The Ford Television Theatre
1952
as Matt Erwin
The Fighter
1952
as Durango
The Family Secret
1951
as Howard Clark
Tales of Tomorrow
1951
Sirocco
1951
as Col. Feroud
The Man Who Cheated Himself
1950
as Lt. Ed Cullen
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Emile Zola
Thieves' Highway
1949
as Mike Figlia
Lights Out
1949
The Phantom Creeps
1949
as Road Crew Foreman (uncredited)
The Dark Past
1948
as Dr. Andrew Collins
Studio One
1948
as Dr. Joseph Pearson
The Luck of the Irish
1948
as David C. Augur
The Miracle of the Bells
1948
as Marcus Harris
Call Northside 777
1948
as Brian Kelly
Captain from Castile
1947
as Juan Garcia
Boomerang!
1947
as Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson
Johnny O'Clock
1947
as Inspector Koch
Anna and the King of Siam
1946
as Kralahome
Winged Victory
1944
as Doctor
Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane
1944
as Arthur Deeds
The Song of Bernadette
1943
as Dr. Dozous
Buckskin Frontier
1943
as Jeptha Marr
Tonight We Raid Calais
1943
as Bonnard
The Moon Is Down
1943
as Dr. Albert Winter
Paris Calling
1941
as Captain Schwabe
Men of Boys Town
1941
as Dave Morris
This Thing Called Love
1940
as Julio Diestro
Golden Boy
1939
as Mr. Bonaparte
The Phantom Creeps
1939
as Road Crew Foreman (archive footage)
Danger on the Air
1938
as Tony Lisotti
Rustlers' Valley
1937
as Cal Howard
North of the Rio Grande
1937
as President Wooden
The Vanishing Shadow
1934
as Roadwork Foreman