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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.

Arthur Miller on Home Ground

The Meanest Men in the West
as Judge Henry Garth

Cross Shot
as Dante Ragusa

Origins of the Mafia
as Bartolomeo Gramignano

Nick the Sting
as Robert Clark

Mark Shoots First
as Il commedator Benzi

That Lucky Touch
as Henry Steedman

Blood, Sweat and Fear
as Benzi

The Balloon Vendor
as Twenty Years

The Great Ice Rip-Off
as Willy Calso

Trapped Beneath the Sea
as Victor Bateman

Dr. Max
as Maxwell Gordon

The Exorcist
as Lt. Bill Kinderman

The Great Kidnapping
as Jovine

Double Indemnity
as Barton Keyes

The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
as Lapchance

The Bull of the West
as Judge Garth

Heat of Anger
as Frank Galvin

Lawman
as Vincent Bronson

Macho Callahan
as Duffy

The Young Lawyers

The Liberation of L.B. Jones
as Oman Hedgepath

Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man
as Himself

McCloud
as Alexander Montello

Mackenna's Gold
as The Editor

Coogan's Bluff
as Lt. McElroy

The Day of the Owl
as Don Mariano Arena

They Came to Rob Las Vegas
as Steve Skorsky

In Like Flint
as Lloyd C. Cramden

Death of a Salesman
as Willy Loman

Our Man Flint
as Cramden

The Final Hour
as Judge Henry Garth

The Brazen Bell
as Judge Henry Garth
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
as Ernie Wigman

Come Blow Your Horn
as Harry R. Baker

The Devil's Children
as Judge Henry Garth

How the West Was Won
as Marshal Lou Ramsey

The Virginian
as Richter Henry Garth

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
as Julio Madariaga

Exodus
as Barak Ben Canaan
I, Don Quixote
as Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijana

The DuPont Show with June Allyson
as Captain Maximillian Gault

But Not for Me
as Jeremiah MacDonald

Green Mansions
as Nuflo

The Trap
as Victor Massonetti

Party Girl
as Rico Angelo

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

Man of the West
as Dock Tobin

Naked City
as Paul Delito

The Brothers Karamazov
as Fyodor Karamazov

The Three Faces of Eve
as Doctor Curtis Luther

The Garment Jungle
as Walter Mitchell

12 Angry Men
as Juror 3

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Captain Andrew Watling

Miami Exposé
as Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
as Judge Bernstein

Tony Awards
as Willy Loman (archive footage)

Gunsmoke
as Col. Josiah Johnson

The Left Hand of God
as Mieh Yang

The Road to Denver
as Jim Donovan