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By Priscilla Wiredu
On June 25, 2024, veteran Black actor Willbert Francisco Cobbs, professionally known as Bill Cobbs,passed away at the age of 90. Cobb’s acting career spanned over decades. He is remembered not only for his impeccable acting, but also for his contributions to Black cinema as a whole.
Early life
Cobbs was born June 16, 1934 in Cleveland, Ohio, to a domestic worker and a construction worker. He had one brother, Thomas, and was the second cousin of James Baskett, another Black actor whose most noted role was Uncle Remus in Disney’s Song of the South.
Cobbs served as a radar technician in the U.S. Air Force for eight years. Afterwards, he obtained work as a car salesman and office product salesman in Ohio. In 1970, the then-36-year-oldmoved to New York to seek acting work. Whilst looking for roles, he supported himself by doing odd jobsselling toys, and working cab service.
Rise to fame
Cobb’s first acting credentials began on stage. He worked at the African American Performing Arts Center and Karamu House Theatre in Cleveland. His first role was in Ride a Black Horse from the Negro Ensemble Company. He played small roles, whether it was for regional or street theater, mostly at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.
In the mid-70s, Cobb appeared in Broadway productions such as Black Picture Show, and The First Breeze of Summer. He later worked in stage productions for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. His movie debut was a one-line delivery in the 1974 film The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.
From the 1970s to the 1980s, Cobb’s acting career took off. He made various TV appearances in well-known shows such as Good Times, The Equalizer, and Sesame Street.
Notable Roles
Cobbs made an icon of himself as an elderly but wise-cracking, knowledgeable Black man in most of his roles. He appeared in the Oscar-winning Martin Scorsese film The Color of Money (1986) and had a breakthrough in 1987 when he landed a role as a recurring character, The Dutchman, on the first and only season of the ABC sitcom The Slap Maxwell Story. One of his most iconic roles was that of the unsuspecting elderly man who shot Wesley Snipes’ character in the 1991 thriller New Jack City.
During the 1990s, Cobbs appeared alongside many actors and celebrities, such as Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. Cobbs’ first noted 90s role was that of Devaney in the Oscar-nominated thriller The Bodyguard (1992). In 1993, Cobbs appeared in the sci-fi thriller Demolition Man with Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, and Sandra Bullock. In 1996, he played a jazz pianist in the musical comedy That Thing You Do! starring Tom Hanks and Liv Tyler.
Cobbshas made notable one-off roles in classic 90s showsincluding E.R., The Sopranos,The Wayans Bros,Northern Exposure,and The Gregory Hines Show.
In 2006, Cobbs landed a role in Night at the Museum and reprised his character in the 2014 sequel Night at The Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In 2013, Cobbs played the character Master Tinker in the movie Oz The Great and Powerful and appeared as Mr. Hendrickson on TVOKids’ Dino Dana in 2020, for which he won a Daytime Emmy. In 2023, Cobbs completed his final acting role in the TV mini-series Incandescent Love.
Awards
Throughout his acting career, Bill Cobbs has only earned two awards and one nomination for his work. Alongside his 2020 Emmy for Outstanding Limited Performance in Daytime Program, he won Best Actor for The Final Patient at the Trenton Film Festival in 2006. His one nomination, given by the Daytime Emmy Awards, is Outstanding Performer in a Childrens’, Family Viewing or Special Class Program for Dino Dana.
Death/Legacy
At 90 years-old, Bill Cobbs passed away on June 25, 2024. He starred in over 200 roles. Cobbs had created many possibilities in the world of Black artistry for peers, generations, and audiences alike. As American Actor Wendell Pierce writes, “[Bill Cobbs was a] father figure, a griot, an iconic artist, that mentored me by the way he led his life as an actor.”
Priscilla Wiredu is a writer for this year’s Black Voice project. An alumni of York University, she graduated with Honors where she studied Social Sciences. She then went on to get an Ontario Graduate certificate in Creative Writing from the Humber School for Writers, and a college certificate in Legal Office Administration at Seneca College. She is currently studying for the LSAT in hopes of going to law school. Her main goal as a Black Voices writer is to ensure Black issues and Black Pride are enunciated through her works.