Lee J. Cobb
Actor
Born December 8, 1911 in New York City, New York, USA
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.
Filmography
Arthur Miller on Home Ground
The Meanest Men in the West
Judge Henry Garth
Cross Shot
Dante Ragusa
Origins of the Mafia
Bartolomeo Gramignano
Nick the Sting
Robert Clark
Mark Shoots First
Il commedator Benzi
That Lucky Touch
Henry Steedman
Blood, Sweat and Fear
Benzi
The Balloon Vendor
Twenty Years
The Great Ice Rip-Off
Willy Calso
Trapped Beneath the Sea
Victor Bateman
Dr. Max
Maxwell Gordon
The Exorcist
Lt. Bill Kinderman
The Great Kidnapping
Jovine
Double Indemnity
Barton Keyes
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
Lapchance
The Bull of the West
Judge Garth
Heat of Anger
Frank Galvin
Lawman
Vincent Bronson
Macho Callahan
Duffy
The Young Lawyers
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
Oman Hedgepath
Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man
Himself
McCloud
Alexander Montello
Mackenna's Gold
The Editor
Coogan's Bluff
Lt. McElroy
The Day of the Owl
Don Mariano Arena
They Came to Rob Las Vegas
Steve Skorsky
In Like Flint
Lloyd C. Cramden
Death of a Salesman
Willy Loman
Our Man Flint
Cramden
The Final Hour
Judge Henry Garth
The Brazen Bell
Judge Henry Garth
Come Blow Your Horn
Harry R. Baker
The Devil's Children
Judge Henry Garth
How the West Was Won
Marshal Lou Ramsey
The Virginian
Richter Henry Garth
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Julio Madariaga
Exodus
Barak Ben Canaan
Startime
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Captain Maximillian Gault
But Not for Me
Jeremiah MacDonald
Green Mansions
Nuflo
The Trap
Victor Massonetti
Party Girl
Rico Angelo
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Man of the West
Dock Tobin
Naked City
Paul Delito
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Karamazov
The Three Faces of Eve
Doctor Curtis Luther
The Garment Jungle
Walter Mitchell
12 Angry Men
Juror 3
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Captain Andrew Watling
Miami Exposé
Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Judge Bernstein
Tony Awards
Willy Loman (archive footage)
Gunsmoke
Col. Josiah Johnson
The Left Hand of God
Mieh Yang
The Road to Denver
Jim Donovan
The Racers
Maglio
Day of Triumph
Zadok
Medic
Henry Fisher
On the Waterfront
Johnny Friendly
Gorilla at Large
Detective Sgt. Garrison
Yankee Pasha
Sultan
The Oscars
Self
The Tall Texan
Capt. Theodore Bess
General Electric Theater
Dominic Roma
The Ford Television Theatre
Matt Erwin
The Fighter
Durango
The Family Secret
Howard Clark
Tales of Tomorrow
Sirocco
Col. Feroud
The Man Who Cheated Himself
Lt. Ed Cullen
Thieves' Highway
Mike Figlia
Lights Out
The Phantom Creeps
Road Crew Foreman (uncredited)
The Dark Past
Dr. Andrew Collins
Studio One
Dr. Joseph Pearson
The Luck of the Irish
David C. Augur
The Miracle of the Bells
Marcus Harris
Call Northside 777
Brian Kelly
Captain from Castile
Juan Garcia
Boomerang!
Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson
Johnny O'Clock
Inspector Koch
Anna and the King of Siam
Kralahome
Winged Victory
Doctor
The Song of Bernadette
Dr. Dozous
Buckskin Frontier
Jeptha Marr
Tonight We Raid Calais
Bonnard
The Moon Is Down
Dr. Albert Winter
Paris Calling
Captain Schwabe
Men of Boys Town
Dave Morris
This Thing Called Love
Julio Diestro
Golden Boy
Mr. Bonaparte
The Phantom Creeps
Road Crew Foreman (archive footage)
Danger on the Air
Tony Lisotti
Rustlers' Valley
Cal Howard
North of the Rio Grande
President Wooden
The Vanishing Shadow
Roadwork Foreman