Lee J. Cobb
ActorView in FlikflixAll Movies & TV Shows
See All- ActionIn Like Flint
- ActionOur Man Flint
- WesternThe Virginian
- CrimeThe Man Who Cheated Himself
- WesternHow the West Was Won
- ActionCoogan's Bluff
- ActionThe Trap
- ComedyCome Blow Your Horn
- Drama12 Angry Men
- CrimeOn the Waterfront
- DramaThe Left Hand of God
- DramaThe Three Faces of Eve
- DramaMan of the West
- DramaCall Northside 777
- AdventureLawman
- ActionSirocco
- CrimeBoomerang!
- DramaThe Brothers Karamazov
- CrimeParty Girl
- CrimeGorilla at Large
- CrimeThey Came to Rob Las Vegas
- RomanceThe Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
- DramaThe Fighter
- Drama12 Angry Men
- AdventureCaptain from Castile
- DramaThe Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
- DramaAnna and the King of Siam
- FantasyThe Luck of the Irish
- ComedyBut Not for Me
- HorrorThe Exorcist
- DramaThe Song of Bernadette
- ActionExodus
- DramaThe Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
- ActionRustlers' Valley
- WesternNorth of the Rio Grande
- ActionMackenna's Gold
- DramaMen of Boys Town
- CrimeThe Garment Jungle
- WesternThe Meanest Men in the West
- CrimeOrigins of the Mafia
- CrimeThe Liberation of L.B. Jones
- CrimeCross Shot
- CrimeMiami Exposé
- ActionTrapped Beneath the Sea
- movieDr. Max
- DramaDeath of a Salesman
- CrimeThe Great Ice Rip-Off
- WesternThe Final Hour
- DramaDay of Triumph
- CrimeDouble Indemnity
- CrimeBlood, Sweat and Fear
- DramaThe Balloon Vendor
- ActionNick the Sting
- ActionThe Great Kidnapping
- WesternThe Tall Texan
- CrimeThe Family Secret
- ComedyI, Don Quixote
- CrimeMark Shoots First
- WesternThe Brazen Bell
- DramaThieves' Highway
- CrimeThe Day of the Owl
- CrimeThe Dark Past
- AdventureGreen Mansions
- WesternMacho Callahan
- CrimeJohnny O'Clock
- DramaThe Moon Is Down
- WesternThe Road to Denver
- ActionTonight We Raid Calais
- DramaHeat of Anger
- DocumentaryFlight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane
- WesternThe Bull of the West
- DramaGolden Boy
- DramaThe Miracle of the Bells
- ActionNick the Sting
- AdventureYankee Pasha
- ActionBuckskin Frontier
- ComedyThat Lucky Touch
- DramaWinged Victory
- DramaThe Racers
- ActionParis Calling
- WesternThe Devil's Children
- ComedyThis Thing Called Love
- ComedyAnnie: the Women in the Life of a Man
- CrimeDanger on the Air
- ActionThe Vanishing Shadow
- CrimeThe Phantom Creeps
- Science FictionThe Phantom Creeps
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About
Lee J. Cobb
Actor
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.
Information
- Place of Birth
- New York City, New York, USA
- Known Credits
- 85