Lee J. Cobb (
December 8, 1911 –
February 11, 1976) was an
American actor.
Born Leo Jacoby to a
Jewish family in
New York City, Cobb studied at
New York University before making his film debut in
The Vanishing Shadow (1934). He joined the
Manhattan-based left wing
Group Theatre in 1935. He is probably best known for creating the role of Willy Loman in
Arthur Miller's 1949 play
Death of a Salesman under the direction of
Elia Kazan. It is widely considered to be his best performance, and one of the greatest performances ever on the
American stage.
Cobb was cast as the Kralahome in the 1946 non-musical film
Anna and the King of Siam. He also played the sympathetic doctor in
The Song of Bernadette, and appeared as
James Coburn's supervisor in the spy spoofs
In Like Flint and
Our Man Flint. He reprised his role of Willy Loman in the 1966
CBS television adaptation of
Death of a Salesman, which included then-unknown actors
Gene Wilder, Bernie Kopell, and
George Segal. Cobb was nominated for an
Emmy Award for the performance.
Mildred Dunnock, who had co-starred in both the original stage version and the 1951 film version, again repeated her role as Linda, Willy's devoted wife.
Cobb was named as a possible
Communist in testimony before the
House Un-American Activities Committee because of his involvement in liberal causes and his support of political and charitable organizations suspected of being Communist fronts. He 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 twenty people as former members of the
Communist Party USA.
Later, Cobb explained why he "named names" saying:
When the facilities of the government of the United States are drawn on an individual it can be terrifying. The blacklist is just the opening gambit — being deprived of work. Your passport is confiscated. That's minor. But not being able to move without being tailed is something else. After a certain point it grows to implied as well as articulated threats, and people succumb. My wife did, and she was institutionalized. The HUAC did a deal with me. I was pretty much worn down. I had no money. I couldn't borrow. I had the expenses of taking care of the children. Why am I subjecting my loved ones to this? If it's worth dying for, and I am just as idealistic as the next fellow. But I decided it wasn't worth dying for, and if this gesture was the way of getting out of the penitentiary I'd do it. I had to be employable again.
:— Interview with
Victor Navasky for the 1982 book
Naming Names
Following the hearing he resumed his career and worked with 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.
Cobb also appeared as ranch owner Judge Garth in the television series
The Virginian, and his 1968 performance as
King Lear with
Stacy Keach as Edmund,
René Auberjonois as the Fool, and
Philip Bosco as Kent achieved the longest run for the play in
Broadway history.
Cobb died of a
heart attack at the age of 64 in
Woodland Hills, California and was buried in
Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
