Lee J. Cobb

From New York City, New York, USA • 1911 - 1976

Lee J. Cobb (born Leo Jacoby; December 8, 1911 – February 11, 1976) was an American actor, known both for film roles and his work on the Broadway stage, as well as for his starring role on the television series The Virginian. He often played arrogant, intimidating, and abrasive characters, but he also acted as respectable figures such as judges and police officers. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, all in the Best Supporting Actor category. Cobb was a member of the Group Theatre and originated the role of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's 1949 play Death of a Salesman under the direction of Elia Kazan. He received his first Oscar nomination for playing Johnny Friendly in Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954). His subsequent film performances included Juror #3 in 12 Angry Men (1957), patriarch Fyodor Karamazov in The Brothers Karamazov (also 1958), Dock Tobin in Man of the West (1958), Barak Ben Canaan in Exodus (1960), Marshall Lou Ramsey in How the West Was Won (1962), Cramden in Our Man Flint (1966) and its sequel In Like Flint (1967), and Lt. William Kinderman in The Exorcist (1973). On television, Cobb played a leading role in the first four seasons of the Western series, The Virginian as Judge Henry Garth and the ABC legal drama The Young Lawyers as David Barrett, and was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor three times. In 1981, Cobb was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. (Via Wikipedia)