Wilbert Alexander Cobbs (June 16, 1934 – June 25, 2024) was an American actor, known for such film roles as Louisiana Slim in '' The Hitter'' (1979), Walter in '' The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), Reginald in ''

Night at the Museum ''Night at the Museum'' is a 2006 fantasy comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. It is based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc. The film had an en ...

'' (2006) and Master Tinker on ''

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'' books and set 20 ...

'' (2013). He also played Lewis Coleman on '' I'll Fly Away'' (1991–1993), Jack on ''

The Michael Richards Show ''The Michael Richards Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Spike Feresten, Gregg Kavet, Andy Robin and Michael Richards that aired on NBC from October 24 to December 19, 2000, for eight episodes. The show stars Richards as sociall ...

'' (2000), and had guest appearances on ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action fiction, action Crime drama, crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both the film and the series starring Chuck Norr ...

'' and ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

''. In 2012, he had a reoccurring role as George in the sitcom, ''Go On''. In 2020, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Performance in a Daytime Program for the series '' Dino Dana''.

Early life

Wilbert Alexander Cobbs was born on June 16, 1934, in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, to a mother, Vera, who was a domestic worker and a father, David, who worked in construction. He had a brother named Thomas Cobbs. He was the second cousin of ''

Song of the South ''Song of the South'' is a 1946 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated musical film, musical comedy-drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson, produced by Walt Disney, and released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pi ...

'' actor

James Baskett James Franklin Baskett (February 16, 1904 – July 9, 1948) was an American actor who portrayed Uncle Remus in the 1946 Disney feature film ''Song of the South''. His performance included singing the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." In recognition of h ...

Career

Cobbs served in the U.S. Air Force as a

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

technician A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skill and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles. Specialisation The term technician covers many different special ...

for eight years; he also worked in office products at

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

and sold cars in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1970, at the age of 36, he left for

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

to seek work as an actor. He supported himself by driving a cab, repairing office equipment, selling toys, and performing odd jobs. Cobbs credited Reuben Silver with his start in acting at the African American Performing Arts Center and

Karamu House Karamu House in the Fairfax neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, United States, is the oldest producing Black Theatre in the United States opening in 1915. Many of Langston Hughes's plays were developed and premiered at the theate ...

Theatre in Cleveland. His first professional acting role was in ''Ride a Black Horse'' at the

Negro Ensemble Company The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) is a New York City-based theater company and workshop established in 1967 by producer-actor Robert Hooks, playwright Douglas Turner Ward, and theater manager Gerald S. Krone, with funding from the Ford Foundatio ...

. From there, he appeared in small theater productions, street theater, regional theater, and at the

Eugene O'Neill Theatre The Eugene O'Neill Theatre, previously the Forrest Theatre and the Coronet Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 230 West 49th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The theater was designed by Her ...

. As an amateur actor in the city's Karamu House Theater, Cobbs starred in the

Ossie Davis Ossie Davis (born Raiford Chatman Davis; December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, Film director, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He received num ...

play '' Purlie Victorious.'' Cobbs was in ''Vegetable Soup'' (1976), a New York public television educational series, and he made his feature film debut with a one-line role in '' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'' in 1974. Cobbs had an extensive film career over the next several decades including the bartender in ''

Trading Places ''Trading Places'' is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. Starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis, the film te ...

'' (1983), the man in the lunchroom in '' Silkwood'' (1983), '' The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), ''

The Color of Money ''The Color of Money'' is a 1986 American Sports film, sports Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is the sequel to the 1961 film ''The Hustler''. Like the previous film, ''The Color of Money'' is based on a ...

'' (1986), a doctor in ''

Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

'' (1988), the old man who shoots

Wesley Snipes Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor and martial artist. In a film career spanning more than thirty years, Snipes has appeared in a variety of genres, such as numerous thrillers, dramatic feature films, and comedies, th ...

in ''

New Jack City ''New Jack City'' is a 1991 American crime action film directed by Mario Van Peebles (in his feature film directorial debut) and written by Thomas Lee Wright and Barry Michael Cooper, based on a story by Wright. The film stars Wesley Snipes, I ...

'' (1991), the grandpa in '' The People Under the Stairs'' (1991), the singer's manager in '' The Bodyguard'' (1992), a police officer in '' Demolition Man'' (1993), the "clock man" in the

Coen Brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers (), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are '' Blood Simple'' (198 ...

' '' The Hudsucker Proxy'' (1994),

Medgar Evers Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and soldier who was the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. Evers, a United States Army veteran who served in World War II, was engaged in efforts ...

's older brother Charles Evers in

Rob Reiner Robert Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and liberal activist. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael Stivic, Mike "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitc ...

's '' Ghosts of Mississippi'' (1996), 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 ...

's ''

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 no ...

'' (1996), Basketball coach and retired basketball player Arthur Chaney in

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's '' Air Bud'' (1997), '' Hope Floats'' (1998), the boat hand porter in '' I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'' (1998), a doctor in '' Sunshine State'' (2002), '' Enough'' (2002), and a blues musician in '' A Mighty Wind'' (2003). He also appeared and was a regular on many television programs, including as Lewis Coleman on '' I'll Fly Away'' (1991–1993), James on '' The Gregory Hines Show'' (1997-1998), Jack on ''

'' (2000), and George, a blind grief-support-group member, on '' Go On'' (2012-2013). He also appeared on ''

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans (actor), Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was televis ...

'', ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', '' The Outer Limits''; '' ER'', '' Six Feet Under''; '' The Others''; '' JAG''; ''

The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995, to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionaliz ...

''; ''

'', ''

'', '' October Road''; '' One Tree Hill''; '' Star Trek: Enterprise'' (as Dr. Emory Erickson, inventor of the Transporter); Bill Cobbs also had a small roll, with scene partner, funny, Michael McKean, in Christopher Guest/Eugene Levy hilarious comedy, (dog-show, mockumentary); "Best in Show", (2000); and many more. In 2006, Cobbs played a supporting role in ''

'' 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 main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Get Low'' (2009). He also had brief appearances in the 2010 film '' The Search for Santa Paws'', and the 2011 film ''

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...

.'' In 2014, Cobbs co-starred in ''

'' 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 Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), known professionally as Ice-T (or Ice T), is an American rapper and actor. He is active in both hip hop music, hip hop and heavy metal music, heavy metal. Ice-T began his career as an underground r ...

's autobiography. In 2020, he guest starred in the two-part series finale of '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', portraying an unnamed elderly S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Also in 2020, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Performance in a Daytime Program for the series '' Dino Dana''. His last credited appearance came in 2023, in the mini-series ''Incandescent Love.''

Death

Cobbs died from natural causes at his home in

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population ...

, on June 25, 2024, nine days after his 90th birthday. He never married and had no children.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobbs, Bill 1934 births 2024 deaths 20th-century African-American male actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Daytime Emmy Award winners Male actors from Cleveland United States Air Force airmen