Lee J. Cobb

Acting · 2.0 popularity

Age

114

Movies

Born: December 8, 1911 – February 11, 1976
From: New York City, New York, USA

Biography

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.

Works

84 films

12 Angry Men

19578.6

The Exorcist

19737.7

Miami Exposé

19566.0

On the Waterfront

19547.9

How the West Was Won

19627.0

Mackenna's Gold

19696.6

Coogan's Bluff

19686.3

Exodus

19606.7

Tonight We Raid Calais

19435.8

The Brothers Karamazov

19586.5

Sirocco

19516.0

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

19566.7

Party Girl

19586.8

Our Man Flint

19666.4

Anna and the King of Siam

19466.2

Green Mansions

19595.7

Lawman

19716.5

The Song of Bernadette

19437.1

Call Northside 777

19486.7

Man of the West

19586.6

In Like Flint

19676.2

The Trap

19596.9

The Phantom Creeps

19394.5

The Three Faces of Eve

19577.2

Gorilla at Large

19545.6

The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing

19735.8

Golden Boy

19396.5

The Day of the Owl

19687.1

Boomerang!

19477.0

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

19626.0

The Man Who Cheated Himself

19506.2

The Left Hand of God

19556.3

Arthur Miller on Home Ground

197910.0

But Not for Me

19596.3

The Meanest Men in the West

19784.4

The Liberation of L.B. Jones

19706.1

Mark Shoots First

19756.6

They Came to Rob Las Vegas

19685.9

Paris Calling

19416.0

Men of Boys Town

19416.4

The Miracle of the Bells

19486.2

The Bull of the West

19725.7

Captain from Castile

19477.2

Thieves' Highway

19497.2

The Vanishing Shadow

19347.1

This Thing Called Love

19408.4

The Tall Texan

19535.4

The Garment Jungle

19576.5

The Luck of the Irish

19486.1

That Lucky Touch

19756.4

The Dark Past

19486.0

Macho Callahan

19714.5

The Road to Denver

19557.0

Johnny O'Clock

19476.3

The Racers

19556.7

Come Blow Your Horn

19635.1

North of the Rio Grande

19376.7

The Devil's Children

19629.0

Yankee Pasha

19545.3

Trapped Beneath the Sea

19746.4

Cross Shot

19766.6

Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man

1970

Double Indemnity

19734.7

The Family Secret

19516.1

The Balloon Vendor

19747.0

Nick the Sting

19766.8

The Great Kidnapping

19737.2

Winged Victory

19446.3

The Brazen Bell

196410.0

The Moon Is Down

19436.9

The Phantom Creeps

19494.2

Blood, Sweat and Fear

19755.7

Day of Triumph

19548.0

Death of a Salesman

19666.4

I, Don Quixote

195910.0

Buckskin Frontier

19437.0

Rustlers' Valley

19375.8

Heat of Anger

197210.0

Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane

1944

The Fighter

19525.5

Danger on the Air

19386.4

The Great Ice Rip-Off

19747.5

Dr. Max

19747.0

The Final Hour

19657.0