William Francisco Cobbs (born June 16, 1934) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in movies such as Louisiana Slim in ''
The Hitter'' (1979), Water in ''
The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), and as Lewis Coleman on ''
I'll Fly Away
"I'll Fly Away" is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley and published in 1932 by the Hartford Music company in a collection titled ''Wonderful Message''.Richard Matteson, Jr.''The Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book'' Mel Bay Publications, 2006 ...
'' (1991–1993), as Jack on ''
The Michael Richards Show'' (2000), and guest appearances on ''
Walker, Texas Ranger
''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film '' Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the ...
'' and ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...
''. In 2020, he won a
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Performance in a Daytime Program for the series ''
Dino Dana
''Dino Dana'' is a Canadian television series that was created and is directed by J. J. Johnson. The series was developed as a followup to '' Dino Dan: Trek's Adventures'' and premiered on Amazon Prime on May 27, 2017. In September 2020, ''Dino Da ...
''.
Early life
Cobbs was born in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
, to a mother, Vera, who was a domestic worker and a father, David, who worked in construction. He is the second cousin of
James Baskett.
Career
Cobbs served in the United States Air Force as a
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...
technician for eight years; he also worked in office products at
IBM and sold cars in Cleveland. In 1970, at the age of 36, he left for
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
to seek work as an actor. He supported himself by driving a cab, repairing office equipment, selling toys, and performing odd jobs.
Cobb credits
Reuben Silver with his start in acting at the African American Performing Arts Center and
Karamu House Theatre in Cleveland Ohio. His first professional acting role was in ''
Ride a Black Horse'' at the
Negro Ensemble Company. From there, he appeared in small theater productions, street theater, regional theater, and at the
Eugene O'Neill Theatre.
As an amateur actor in the city's Karamu House Theater, Cobbs starred in the
Ossie Davis play ''
Purlie Victorious.'' Cobbs was in ''Vegetable Soup'' (1976), a New York public television educational series, and he made his feature film debut in ''
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'' in 1974. Cobbs has an extensive film career and has appeared and been a regular on many television programs, including ''
The Michael Richards Show''; ''
The Outer Limits''; ''
I'll Fly Away
"I'll Fly Away" is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley and published in 1932 by the Hartford Music company in a collection titled ''Wonderful Message''.Richard Matteson, Jr.''The Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book'' Mel Bay Publications, 2006 ...
''; ''
Yes, Dear''; ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...
''; ''
Six Feet Under''; ''
The Others''; ''
JAG''; ''
The Drew Carey Show''; ''
October Road''; ''
One Tree Hill''; ''
Star Trek: Enterprise'' (as Dr. Emory Erickson, inventor of the
Transporter); and many more. He had a recurring role as George, a blind grief-support-group member, in the TV series, ''
Go On'', which premiered in 2012.
In 2006, Cobbs played a supporting role in ''
Night at the Museum'' as Reginald, a security guard on the verge of retirement. The character also served as an
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist.
Etymology
The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, ri ...
to the story. He played basketball coach and retired basketball player Arthur Chaney in
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's ''
Air Bud
''Air Bud'' is a 1997 sports comedy film directed by Charles Martin Smith. The film was financially successful, grossing $4 million in its opening weekend and totaling $27.8 million in its run against an estimated $3 million budget.
Plot
Afte ...
'' and
Medgar Evers' older brother
Charles Evers in
Rob Reiner
Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom '' All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performa ...
's ''
Ghosts of Mississippi.'' He had a role in the
Coen Brothers
Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...
' ''
The Hudsucker Proxy'' and played fictional jazz pianist Del Paxton in
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
' ''
That Thing You Do
''That'' is an English language word used for several grammatical purposes. These include use as an adjective, conjunction, pronoun, adverb, and intensifier; it has distance from the speaker, as opposed to words like ''this''. The word did not ori ...
''. He has a brief appearance in the 2010 film ''
The Search for Santa Paws.''
In 2013, Cobbs co-starred in ''
Oz the Great and Powerful
''Oz the Great and Powerful'' is a 2013 American fantasy adventure film directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Lindsay-Abaire and Mitchell Kapner from a story by Kapner. Based on L. Frank Baum's early 20th century ''Oz'' novels and set 20 y ...
''
as the Master Tinker, and in late 2014 reprised his role of Reginald in ''
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb''. He recorded a public service announcement for
Deejay Ra's Hip-Hop Literacy2 campaign, encouraging reading of
Ice-T's autobiography.
In 2020, he guest starred in the two-part series finale of ''
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, an ...
'', portraying an unnamed elderly
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often ...
agent.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobbs, Bill
1934 births
African-American male actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
Daytime Emmy Award winners
Living people
Male actors from Cleveland
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American people