Bill Cobbs, 90; character actor seen in ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘Night at the Museum’
bill cobbs, a prolific character actor whose half-century career bloomed while he was middle-aged and ranged from “Sesame Street” to “the Sopranos” to “Night at the Museum,” died tuesday evening. he was 90.
his death, at his home in the Inland Empire region of california, was announced on social media by his brother, thomas g. cobbs, and confirmed by his agent, carmela Evangelista. No cause of death was given.
Mr. cobbs was not a hollywood star, but his face was one anyone who watched tv or movies over the past several decades could recognize. he appeared in more than 200 films and television shows and was a prominent theater actor.
born Wilbert francisco cobbs in cleveland, he spent eight years working as a radar technician in the Air force, where he started doing standup comedy, he said in a 2012 interview with the podcast “Movie geeks United.” he also worked at IBM and as a car salesman.
his experience in the Ossie Davis play “purlie victorious,” a comedy about a black preacher’s efforts to reclaim his hometown church, had an especially profound effect on his career.
“that play taught me that there were a lot of things I could say in theater, on the stage and in movies and in television, that were very important, that were meaningful things, that in addition to being a means of entertaining people and touching them in different ways, there were things you could say related to the human condition,” he said.
he moved to New York in 1970 to pursue acting when he was 36, according to his IMDB profile, and worked odd jobs selling toys, driving taxis, and repairing office equipment. his professional acting debut came in “Ride a black horse” at the Negro Ensemble company, and he spent several years appearing in small theaters and in broadway plays including “black picture Show” and “Ma Rainey’s black bottom.”
his first television credit came on a public television series for children, called “vegetable Soup,” which tried to counter racism. his big-screen debut was a minor part, a man on a platform, in a major movie, the 1974 thriller “the taking of pelham One two three.” he had one line, he told cleveland.com and the plain Dealer in a 2013 interview.
“I came back home to see my mom and dad, and all our friends and neighbors went to see the movie, and everyone was waiting for my appearance,” he said. “I walk up to a policeman in the subway and say: ‘hey, man. What’s goin’ on?’”
In the 1980s, more roles came in movies, including “trading places,” the cult sci-fi film “the brother from Another planet,” and “the color of Money,” with paul Newman and tom cruise. then, in 1987, he landed a role starring alongside Dabney coleman (who died in May) in the lone season of the Abc sitcom “the Slap Maxwell Story.”
More recurring roles came on “I’ll fly Away,” “the gregory hines Show,” “the Drew carey Show,” and, more recently, “go On,” starring Matthew perry.
Mr. cobbs’s tv appearances chart the history of the medium over the past five decades, including “good times,” “One life to live,” “l.a. law,” “Kate and Allie,” “Spenser: for hire,” “Sesame Street,” “ER,” “Northern Exposure,” “Walker, texas Ranger,” “the Sopranos,” “the West Wing,” “NYPD blue,” “JAG,” “One tree hill,” “Star trek: Enterprise,” “Six feet Under,” “Superior Donuts,” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
Some of his notable film roles were as Whitney houston’s manager in “the bodyguard”; the clock man in “the hudsucker proxy”; a coach in “Air bud,” about a basketballplaying dog; a police officer in the thriller “Demolition Man”; a famous jazz pianist in “that thing You Do!”; Master tinker in “Oz the great and powerful”; and a doctor in the drama “Sunshine State.”
One of his favorite roles was working with ben Stiller, Dick van Dyke, and Mickey Rooney as the security guard in “Night at the Museum,” said his publicist, chuck I. Jones, a role he reprised in a sequel, “Night at the Museum: Secret of the tomb.”
In 2020, Mr. cobbs won a Daytime Emmy Award for his work on “Dino Dana,” a television show about a child who loves dinosaurs.
his last credited appearance came in 2023, in the miniseries “Incandescent love.”
“I enjoy what I do, I really enjoy it,” he said in the 2012 interview. “It’s exciting to have a project and work on it and see it come to fruition, so I can find joy doing this so much.”