
Lee J. Cobb
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.
Acting (81 movies)

On the Waterfront
1954

Exodus
1960

Thieves' Highway
1949

Sirocco
1951

In Like Flint
1967

Our Man Flint
1966

The Garment Jungle
1957

How the West Was Won
1962

Party Girl
1958

The Exorcist
1973

Call Northside 777
1948

Come Blow Your Horn
1963

Coogan's Bluff
1968

Tonight We Raid Calais
1943

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
1956

The Three Faces of Eve
1957

The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
1973

Lawman
1971

Miami Exposé
1956

Man of the West
1958

The Brothers Karamazov
1958

The Dark Past
1948

The Miracle of the Bells
1948

Anna and the King of Siam
1946

The Song of Bernadette
1943

Golden Boy
1939

Captain from Castile
1947

The Left Hand of God
1955

The Man Who Cheated Himself
1950

Mackenna's Gold
1969

Johnny O'Clock
1947

Boomerang!
1947

North of the Rio Grande
1937

Rustlers' Valley
1937

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
1962

The Trap
1959

Gorilla at Large
1954

The Great Kidnapping
1973

Double Indemnity
1973

The Day of the Owl
1968

The Liberation of L.B. Jones
1970

Paris Calling
1941

But Not for Me
1959

They Came to Rob Las Vegas
1968

The Luck of the Irish
1948

The Bull of the West
1972

The Moon Is Down
1943

Buckskin Frontier
1943

Yankee Pasha
1954

The Vanishing Shadow
1934

The Racers
1955

The Meanest Men in the West
1978

Winged Victory
1944

Cross Shot
1976

The Road to Denver
1955

This Thing Called Love
1940

The Great Ice Rip-Off
1974

Death of a Salesman
1966

The Family Secret
1951

Danger on the Air
1938

The Tall Texan
1953

The Balloon Vendor
1974

Trapped Beneath the Sea
1974

The Fighter
1952

The Phantom Creeps
1939

Macho Callahan
1971

Mark Shoots First
1975

Day of Triumph
1954

Nick the Sting
1976

The Final Hour
1965

The Devil's Children
1962

The Brazen Bell
1964

That Lucky Touch
1975

Blood, Sweat and Fear
1975

Men of Boys Town
1941

Green Mansions
1959

Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man
1970

Heat of Anger
1972

12 Angry Men
1957

Dr. Max
1974

The Phantom Creeps
1949
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