Biography
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...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
2023
as Self (archive footage)
A lyrical and spiritual cinematic essay on The Exorcist, the last film of Alexandre O. Philippe explores the uncharted depths of William Friedkin’s mi...

The Meanest Men in the West
1978
as Judge Henry Garth
Bronson and Marvin star as murderous half-brothers who are running from the law as well as each other. A climatic confrontation proves to each of them...

Cross Shot
1976
as Dante Ragusa
A mobster kills a cop during a robbery and then finds himself pursued by the police, his gang, and the media.

Nick the Sting
1976
as Robert Clark
Nick Hezard, a young con man, wants to avenge the death of a friend of his and organizes a swindle trying to cheat Robert Turner, an American business...

Mark Shoots First
1975
as Il commedator Benzi
Mark Terzi goes to Genoa to take on the case of a serial killer who calls himself "The Sphinx".

That Lucky Touch
1975
as Henry Steedman
A European arms dealer meets a liberated woman journalist, who is writing a story about the ridiculous things men do with the armaments during a NATO ...

Blood, Sweat and Fear
1975
as Benzi
Police believe that a respectable industrialist is actually the head of drug smuggling ring in Milan.

The Balloon Vendor
1974
as Twenty Years
A young boy tries to make living out of a puppet show when his mother abandons him and his father.

The Great Ice Rip-Off
1974
as Willy Calso
A retired cop goes up against a slick jewel thief and his gang, who have pulled a diamond heist and are trying to smuggle the diamonds cross-country.

Trapped Beneath the Sea
1974
as Victor Bateman
Based on an incident that occurred off the coast of Florida in 1973, this film tells the story of four men who find themselves trapped in a mini-subma...

Dr. Max
1974
as Maxwell Gordon
A small-town doctor neglects his family to look after his patients.

The Exorcist
1973
as Lt. Bill Kinderman
When a charming 12-year-old girl takes on the characteristics and voices of others, doctors say there is nothing they can do. As people begin to die, ...

The Great Kidnapping
1973
as Jovine
In early seventies Italy, plagued by criminality and political terrorism, a fearless police commissioner is sent to restore law and order in a norther...

Double Indemnity
1973
as Barton Keyes
A scheming wife lures an insurance investigator into helping murder her husband and then declare it an accident. The investigator's boss, not knowing ...

The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
1973
as Lapchance
On the run from her violent husband, Catherine Crocker witnesses a train robbery and is taken prisoner by a frontier outlaw gang, led by a bandit who’...

The Bull of the West
1972
as Judge Garth
Two episodes of the TV series "The Virginian" edited together: "Duel at Shiloh" (2 Jan. 1963) and "Nobility of Kings" (10 Nov. 1965).

Heat of Anger
1972
as Frank Galvin
A woman attorney and her young associate defend a wealthy contractor accused of murdering an ironworker who was having an affair with the contractor's...

Lawman
1971
as Vincent Bronson
While passing through the town of Bannock, a bunch of drunken cattlemen go overboard with their celebrating and accidentally kill an old man with a st...

Macho Callahan
1971
as Duffy
A man tricked into enlisting in the Confederate army is later thrown into a hellish stockade on desertion charges. He eventually breaks out of the pri...

The Liberation of L.B. Jones
1970
as Oman Hedgepath
A successful African American businessman has a quarrel with a white policeman, suspecting that he is having an affair with his wife. The policeman's ...

Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man
1970
as Himself
A CBS television special, renowned for its legendary "Yma, Ava....Yma, Uta... Yma, Oona" sequence. Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man (1970), won ...

Mackenna's Gold
1969
as The Editor
A bandit kidnaps a Marshal who has seen a map showing a gold vein on Indian lands, but other groups are looking for it too, while the Apache try to ke...

Coogan's Bluff
1968
as Lt. McElroy
Coogan, an Arizona deputy sheriff goes to New York to pick up a prisoner. While escorting the prisoner to the airport, he escapes and Coogan heads int...

The Day of the Owl
1968
as Don Mariano Arena
Set in Sicily, this violent crime drama tells the tale of an Italian cop who heads to a small island town to look into the death of a construction sup...

They Came to Rob Las Vegas
1968
as Steve Skorsky
After successfully assaulting an armored car between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, the ambitions of the diverse members of the intrepid criminal gang col...

In Like Flint
1967
as Lloyd C. Cramden
Flint is again called out of retirement when his old boss finds that he seems to have missed 3 Minutes while golfing with the President. Flint finds t...

Death of a Salesman
1966
as Willy Loman
Willy Loman is an over-the-hill salesman who faces a personal turning point when he loses his job and attempts to make peace with his family: Willy's ...

Our Man Flint
1966
as Cramden
When scientists use eco-terrorism to impose their will on the world by affecting extremes in the weather, Intelligence Chief Cramden calls in top agen...

The Final Hour
1965
as Judge Henry Garth
Two episodes of the TV series "The Virginian" edited together.

The Brazen Bell
1964
as Judge Henry Garth

Come Blow Your Horn
1963
as Harry R. Baker
The story of a young man's decision to leave the home of his parents for the bachelor pad of his older brother who leads a swinging '60s lifestyle.

The Devil's Children
1962
as Judge Henry Garth
An old farmer, who has raised his daughter and son with the utmost severity, is soon faced with a mess in the family: the daughter sets fire to a barn...

How the West Was Won
1962
as Marshal Lou Ramsey
The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War to the end of the century, as seen through the eyes of one ...

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
1962
as Julio Madariaga
In Argentina, one daughter of patriarch Madariaga is married to a Frenchman while the other is married to a German thus leading to a crisis when Nazi ...

Exodus
1960
as Barak Ben Canaan
Ari Ben Canaan, a passionate member of the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah, attempts to transport 600 Jewish refugees on a dangerous voyage from Cyp...
I, Don Quixote
1959
as Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijana
The original TV play which evolved into the hit musical, "Man of La Mancha".

But Not for Me
1959
as Jeremiah MacDonald
Out of hit ideas and seemingly in the twilight of his career, Broadway producer Russ Ward decides to give up the game. But when Russ lays off his nubi...

Green Mansions
1959
as Nuflo
A young Venezuelan idealist flees his native land to escape a revolution. Hoping to find peace, he goes to the mountains and the forests of the Amazon...

The Trap
1959
as Victor Massonetti
Lawyer Ralph Anderson arrives in Tula, an amazingly remote town in the desert, as reluctant emissary of mob chief Victor Massonetti, who wants the air...

Party Girl
1958
as Rico Angelo
Slick lawyer Thomas Farrell has made a career of defending mobsters in trials. It's not until he meets a lovely showgirl at a mob party that he realiz...

Man of the West
1958
as Dock Tobin
Heading east to Fort Worth to hire a schoolteacher for his frontier town home, Link Jones is stranded with singer Billie Ellis and gambler Sam Beasley...

The Brothers Karamazov
1958
as Fyodor Karamazov
Ryevsk, Russia, 1870. Tensions abound in the Karamazov family. Fyodor is a wealthy libertine who holds his purse strings tightly. His four grown sons ...

The Three Faces of Eve
1957
as Doctor Curtis Luther
A doctor treats a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder.

The Garment Jungle
1957
as Walter Mitchell
Alan Mitchell returns to New York to work for his father Walter, the owner of a fashion house that designs and manufactures dresses. To stay non-union...

12 Angry Men
1957
as Juror 3
The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of m...

Miami Exposé
1956
as Lt. Barton 'Bart' Scott
A police detective baits killer gamblers with a mob witness (Patricia Medina) in the Everglades.

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
1956
as Judge Bernstein
Tom Rath is a suburban father and husband haunted by his memories of World War II, including a wartime romance with Italian village girl Maria, which ...

The Left Hand of God
1955
as Mieh Yang
A man in priestly robes, seemingly the long-awaited Father O'Shea, arrives at a little-frequented Catholic mission in 1947 China. Though the man seems...

The Road to Denver
1955
as Jim Donovan
The Mayhew brothers flee from one Texas town to another as older brother Bill repeatedly attempts to keep younger brother Sam out of jail. Bill finall...

The Racers
1955
as Maglio
An Italian daredevil turns Grand Prix driver and works his way up to Le Mans with his ballerina lover.

Day of Triumph
1954
as Zadok
A film about the last days of Jesus Christ.

On the Waterfront
1954
as Johnny Friendly
Terry Malloy is a kindhearted dockworker, and former boxer, who is tricked by his corrupt bosses into leading his friend to death. After falling in lo...

Gorilla at Large
1954
as Detective Sgt. Garrison
At a carnival called the Garden of Evil, a man is murdered, apparently by a gorilla...or someone in a gorilla suit.

Yankee Pasha
1954
as Sultan
Tale of an adventurer trying to rescue a damsel kidnapped by pirates.

The Tall Texan
1953
as Capt. Theodore Bess
Groups of desperate travelers journey together throughout the Southwest and soon find trouble when they all get gold fever. The action and drama are h...

The Fighter
1952
as Durango
A boxer, in Mexico, sets out to avenge the murder of his family by using the money from his winnings to purchase weapons.

The Family Secret
1951
as Howard Clark
When his son accidentally kills someone, a lawyer must defend the man wrongly charged with the murder.

Sirocco
1951
as Col. Feroud
A mysterious American gets mixed up with gunrunners in Syria.

The Man Who Cheated Himself
1950
as Lt. Ed Cullen
A veteran homicide detective who has witnessed his socialite girlfriend kill her husband sees his inexperienced brother assigned to the case.

Thieves' Highway
1949
as Mike Figlia
Nick Garcos comes back from his tour of duty in World War II planning to settle down with his girlfriend, Polly Faber. He learns, however, that his fa...

The Phantom Creeps
1949
as Road Crew Foreman (uncredited)
An edited version of the 4½ hour serial about a mad scientist who attempts to rule the world by creating various elaborate inventions.

The Dark Past
1948
as Dr. Andrew Collins
A gang hold a family hostage in their own home. The leader of the escaped cons is bothered by a recurring dream that the doctor of the house may be ab...

The Luck of the Irish
1948
as David C. Augur
Following American reporter Stephen Fitzgerald from Ireland to New York, a grateful leprechaun acts as the newsman's servant and conscience.

The Miracle of the Bells
1948
as Marcus Harris
The body of a young actress is brought to her home town by the man who loved her. He knows that she wanted all the church bells to ring for three days...

Call Northside 777
1948
as Brian Kelly
In 1932, a cop is killed and Frank Wiecek sentenced to life. Eleven years later, a newspaper ad by Frank's mother leads Chicago reporter P.J. O'Neal t...

Captain from Castile
1947
as Juan Garcia
Spain, 1518: young caballero Pedro De Vargas offends his sadistic neighbor De Silva, who just happens to be an officer of the Inquisition. Forced to f...

Boomerang!
1947
as Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson
When a kindly priest is murdered while waiting at a street corner in a quiet Connecticut town, the citizens are horrified and demand action from the p...

Johnny O'Clock
1947
as Inspector Koch
When an employee at an illegal gambling den dies suspiciously, her sister, Nancy, looks into the situation and falls for Johnny O'Clock, a suave partn...

Anna and the King of Siam
1946
as Kralahome
In 1862, a young Englishwoman becomes royal tutor in Siam and befriends the King.

Winged Victory
1944
as Doctor
Pinky Scariano, Allan Ross, and Frankie Davis all join the Army Air Forces with hopes of becoming pilots. In training, they meet and become pals with ...
Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane
1944
as Arthur Deeds
U.S. Army Air Force pilot Bob Chilton and North American Aircraft designer Arthur Deeds show an Air Force colonel and major the new P-51B aircraft, ex...

The Song of Bernadette
1943
as Dr. Dozous
In 1858 Lourdes, France, Bernadette, an adolescent peasant girl, has a vision of "a beautiful lady" in the city dump. She never claims it to be anythi...

Buckskin Frontier
1943
as Jeptha Marr
A railroad man and the owner of a freight line battle for control of a crucial mountain pass.

Tonight We Raid Calais
1943
as Bonnard
A British commando is on a one-man raid to destroy a bomb factory in Nazi-occupied France. He must enlist the aid of French farmers to complete his mi...

The Moon Is Down
1943
as Dr. Albert Winter
The story of a small town in Norway that resists German occupation during World War II. Based on a John Steinbeck novel.

Paris Calling
1941
as Captain Schwabe
Marianne Jannetier, a well-to-do Parisian, engaged to Andre Benoit, a high-ranking government official, flees the city when the goose-stepping Nazi st...

Men of Boys Town
1941
as Dave Morris
Father Flanagan raises funds, helps a disabled boy, and saves an older boy from reform school.

This Thing Called Love
1940
as Julio Diestro
Two professional people marry, but the wife insists that they be celibate for the first three months to make sure they are truly compatible.

Golden Boy
1939
as Mr. Bonaparte
Despite his talent as a musician, a city boy decides to become a boxer. He's successful as a fighter — much to the dismay of his parents. When gangste...

The Phantom Creeps
1939
as Road Crew Foreman (archive footage)
A mad scientist attempts to rule the world by creating various elaborate inventions.

Danger on the Air
1938
as Tony Lisotti
Trouble begins when a hated cad of a sponsor is found murdered during the climax of a live radio show. A radio engineer then tries to solve the murder...

Rustlers' Valley
1937
as Cal Howard
Hoppy clears Lucky on a charge of bank robbery and foils the plot of a crooked lawyer to rustle a herd of pedigree cattle and take over the valley.

North of the Rio Grande
1937
as President Wooden
Hoppy's brother has been murdered and he is on the trail of the murderers. To get them he makes himself seem to be a wanted man.

The Vanishing Shadow
1934
as Roadwork Foreman
A 12-episode serial in which a son avenges the death of his father at the hands of corrupt politicians. He develops a wide variety of complex devices ...