Lee J. Cobb

Birthday

Dec 8, 1911

Birthplace

New York, New York, USA

Bio: Lee J. Cobb, one of the premier character actors in American film forthree decades in the post-World War II period, was born Leo Jacoby in NewYork City's Lower East Side on December 8, 1911. The son of a Jewishnewspaper editor, young Leo was a child prodigy in music, mastering theviolin and the harmonica. Any hopes of a career as a violin virtuoso weredashed when… More Bio: Lee J. Cobb, one of the premier character actors in American film forthree decades in the post-World War II period, was born Leo Jacoby in NewYork City's Lower East Side on December 8, 1911. The son of a Jewishnewspaper editor, young Leo was a child prodigy in music, mastering theviolin and the harmonica. Any hopes of a career as a violin virtuoso weredashed when he broke his wrist, but his talent on the harmonica may havebrought him his first professional success. At the age of 16 or 17 he ranaway from home to Hollywood to try to break into motion pictures as anactor. He reportedly made his film debut as a member of Borrah Minevitch andHis Harmonica Rascals (their first known movie appearance was in the 1929two-reeler "Boyhood Days"), but that cannot be substantiated. However, it'sknown that after Leo was unable to find work he returned to New York City,where he attended City College of New York at night to study accountingwhile acting in radio dramas during the day.An older Cobb tried his luck in California once more, making his debut as aprofessional stage actor at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1931. After againreturning to his native New York, he made his Broadway debut as asaloonkeeper in a dramatization of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "Crime andPunishment," but it closed after 15 performances (later in his career,Dostoevsky would prove more of a charm, with Cobb's role as Father Karamazovin The Brothers Karamazov (1958) garnering him his second Oscar nomination),Cobb joined the politically progressive Group Theater in 1935 and made aname for himself in Clifford Odets' politically liberal dramas "Waiting forLefty" and "Til the Day I Die", appearing in both plays that year in caststhat included Elia Kazan, who later became famous as a film director. Cobbalso appeared in the 1937 Group Theater production of Odets' "Golden Boy,"playing the role of Mr. Carp, in a cast that also included Kazan, JuliusGarfinkle (later better known under his stage name of John Garfield), andMartin Ritt, all of whom later came under the scrutiny of the HouseUn-American Activities Committee during the heyday of the McCarthy "RedScare" hysteria more than a decade later. Cobb took over the role of Mr.Bonaparte, the protagonist's father, in the 1939 film version of the play,despite the fact that he was not yet 30 years old. The role of a patriarchsuited him, and he'd play many more in his film career.It was as a different kind of patriarch that he scored his greatest success.Cobb achieved immortality by giving life to the character of Willy Loman inthe original 1949 Broadway production of Arthur Miller's "Death of aSalesman." His performance was a towering achievement that ranks with suchperformances as Edwin Booth as Richard III and John Barrymore as Hamlet inthe annals of the American theater. Cobb later won an Emmy nomination asWilly when he played the role in a made-for-TV movie of the play (_Death ofa Salesman (1966/II) (TV)_ ). Miller said that he wrote the role with Cobbin mind.Before triumphing as Miller's "Salesman," Cobb had appeared on Broadway onlya handful of times in the 1940s, including in Ernest Hemingway's "The FifthColumn" (1940), Odets' "Clash by Night" (1942) and the US Army Air Force's"Winged Victory" (1943-44). Later he reprised the role of Joe Bonaparte'sfather in the 1952 revival of "Golden Boy" opposite Garfield as his son, andappeared the following year in "The Emperor's Clothes." His final Broadwayappearance was as King Lear in the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center's1968 production of Shakespeare's play.Aside from his possible late 1920s movie debut and his 1934 appearance inthe western The Vanishing Shadow (1934), Cobb's film career proper began in1937 with the westerns North of the Rio Grande (1937) (in which he wasbilled as "Lee Colt") and Rustlers' Valley (1937) and spanned nearly 40years until his death. After a hiatus while serving in the Army Air Forceduring World War II, Cobb's movie career resumed in 1946. He continued toplay major supporting roles in prestigious A-list pictures. His movie careerreached its artistic peak in the 1950s, when he was twice nominated for BestSupporting Actor Academy Awards, for his role as Johnny Friendly in On theWaterfront (1954) and as the father in The Brothers Karamazov (1958). Othermemorable supporting roles in the 1950s included the sagacious JudgeBernstein in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956), as the probingpsychiatrist Dr. Luther in The Three Faces of Eve (1957) and as the volatileJuror #3 in 12 Angry Men (1957).It was in the 1950s that Cobb achieved the sort of fame that most artistsdreaded: he was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee oncharges that he was or had been a Communist. The charges were rooted inCobb's membership in the Group Theater in the 1930s. Other Group Theatermembers already investigated by HUAC included Clifford Odets and Elia Kazan,both of whom provided friendly testimony before the committee, and JohnGarfield, who did not.Cobb's own persecution by HUAC had already caused a nervous breakdown in hiswife, and he decided to appear as a friendly witness in order to preserveher sanity, and his career, by bringing the inquisition to a halt. Appearingbefore the committee in 1953, he named names and thus saved his career.Ironically, he would win his first Oscar nomination in "On the Waterfront,"directed and written by fellow HUAC informers Kazan and Budd Schulberg. Thefilm can be seen as a stalwart defense of informing, as epitomized by thecharacter Terry Malloy's testimony before a Congressional committeeinvestigating racketeering on the waterfront.Major films in which Cobb appeared after reaching his career plateau includeOtto Preminger's adaptation of Leon Uris' ode to the birth of Israel, Exodus(1960); the Cinerama spectacle How the West Was Won (1962); the James Coburnspy spoofs, Our Man Flint (1966) and In Like Flint (1967); Clint Eastwood'sfirst detective film, Coogan's Bluff (1968); and legendary director WilliamWyler's last film, The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970).In addition to his frequent supporting roles in film, Cobb often appeared ontelevision. He played Judge Henry Garth on "The Virginian" (1962) from1962-66 and also had a regular role as the attorney David Barrett on "TheYoung Lawyers" (1970) from 1970-71. Cobb also appeared in made-for-TV moviesand made frequent guest appearances on other TV shows. His last majorHollywood movie role was that of police detective Lt. Kinderman in TheExorcist (1973).Lee J. Cobb died of a heart attack in Woodland Hills, California, onFebruary 11, 1976, at the age of 64. He is buried in Mount Sinai MemorialPark Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Though he will long be rememberedfor many of his successful supporting performances in the movies, it is asthe stage's first Willy Loman in which he achieved immortality as an actor.Bearing in mind that the role was written for him, it is through Willy thathe will continue to have an influence on American drama far into the future,for as long as "Death of a Salesman" is revived.Date of Death: 11 February 1976, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA. (heartattack)