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.

Filmography

• 1978The Meanest Men in the West — Judge Henry Garth
• 1976Cross Shot — Dante Ragusa
• 1976Nick the Sting — Robert Clark
• Origins of the Mafia — Bartolomeo Gramignano
• 1975Blood, Sweat and Fear — Benzi
• 1975Mark Shoots First — Il commedator Benzi
• 1975That Lucky Touch — Henry Steedman
• 1974Dr. Max — Maxwell Gordon
• 1974The Balloon Vendor — Twenty Years
• 1974The Great Ice Rip-Off — Willy Calso
• 1974Trapped Beneath the Sea — Victor Bateman
• 1973Double Indemnity — Barton Keyes
• 1973The Exorcist — Lt. Bill Kinderman
• 1973The Great Kidnapping — Jovine
• 1973The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing — Lapchance
• 1972Heat of Anger — Frank Galvin
• 1972The Bull of the West — Judge Garth
• 1971Lawman — Vincent Bronson
• 1971Macho Callahan — Duffy
• McCloud — Alexander Montello
• 1970The Liberation of L.B. Jones — Oman Hedgepath
• The Young Lawyers
• 1969Mackenna's Gold — The Editor
• 1968Coogan's Bluff — Lt. McElroy
• 1968The Day of the Owl — Don Mariano Arena
• 1968They Came to Rob Las Vegas — Steve Skorsky
• 1967In Like Flint — Lloyd C. Cramden
• 1966Death of a Salesman — Willy Loman
• 1966Our Man Flint — Cramden
• 1965The Final Hour — Judge Henry Garth
• 1964The Brazen Bell — Judge Henry Garth
• Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre — Ernie Wigman
• 1963Come Blow Your Horn — Harry R. Baker
• 1962How the West Was Won — Marshal Lou Ramsey
• 1962The Devil's Children — Judge Henry Garth
• 1962The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — Julio Madariaga
• The Virginian — Richter Henry Garth, Ritcher Henry Garth
• 1960Exodus — Barak Ben Canaan
• 1959But Not for Me — Jeremiah MacDonald
• 1959Green Mansions — Nuflo
• 1959I, Don Quixote — Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijana
• Startime — Director
• The DuPont Show with June Allyson — Captain Maximillian Gault
• 1959The Trap — Victor Massonetti
• 1958Man of the West — Dock Tobin
• Naked City — Paul Delito
• 1958Party Girl — Rico Angelo
• 1958The Brothers Karamazov — Fyodor Karamazov
• Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
• 195712 Angry Men — Juror 3
• 1957Panic Button — Al Bengsten
• 1957The Garment Jungle — Walter Mitchell
• 1957The Three Faces of Eve — Doctor Curtis Luther
• Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre — Captain Andrew Watling, Drifter - Frank MacKinnon
• 1956Miami Exposé — Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott
• 1956The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit — Judge Bernstein
• Tony Awards — Willy Loman (archive footage)
• Gunsmoke — Col. Josiah Johnson
• 1955The Left Hand of God — Mieh Yang
• 1955The Racers — Maglio
• 1955The Road to Denver — Jim Donovan
• 1954Day of Triumph — Zadok
• 1954Gorilla at Large — Detective Sgt. Garrison
• Medic — Henry Fisher
• 1954On the Waterfront — Johnny Friendly
• 1954Yankee Pasha — Sultan
• General Electric Theater — Dominic Roma, Grayson Foxhall
• 1953The Tall Texan — Capt. Theodore Bess
• 1952The Fighter — Durango
• The Ford Television Theatre — Matt Erwin
• 1951Sirocco — Col. Feroud
• Tales of Tomorrow
• 1951The Family Secret — Howard Clark
• Lux Video Theatre — Emile Zola
• 1950The Man Who Cheated Himself — Lt. Ed Cullen
• Lights Out
• 1949The Phantom Creeps — Road Crew Foreman (uncredited)
• 1949Thieves' Highway — Mike Figlia
• 1948Call Northside 777 — Brian Kelly
• Studio One — Dr. Joseph Pearson
• 1948The Dark Past — Dr. Andrew Collins
• 1948The Luck of the Irish — David C. Augur
• 1948The Miracle of the Bells — Marcus Harris
• 1947Boomerang! — Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson
• 1947Captain from Castile — Juan Garcia
• 1947Johnny O'Clock — Inspector Koch
• 1946Anna and the King of Siam — Kralahome
• 1944Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane — Arthur Deeds
• 1944Winged Victory — Doctor
• 1943Buckskin Frontier — Jeptha Marr
• 1943The Moon Is Down — Dr. Albert Winter
• 1943The Song of Bernadette — Dr. Dozous
• 1943Tonight We Raid Calais — Bonnard
• 1941Men of Boys Town — Dave Morris
• 1941Paris Calling — Schwabe
• 1940This Thing Called Love — Julio Diestro
• 1939Golden Boy — Mr. Bonaparte
• 1939The Phantom Creeps — Road Crew Foreman (archive footage)
• 1938Danger on the Air — Tony Lisotti
• 1937North of the Rio Grande — President Wooden
• 1937Rustlers' Valley — Cal Howard
• 1934The Vanishing Shadow — Roadwork Foreman

Appearances as themselves (3)

• 1979Arthur Miller on Home Ground — Self - Willy Loman (archive footage)
• 1970Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man — Himself
• The Oscars — Self