Actor Bill Cobbs Dies at 90

(UnitedHeadlines.com) – Actor Bill Cobbs, 90, died at his home in California on June 25, according to a statement from his family.

Cobbs is described as a “hugely talented actor and director” in an obituary shared by his rep, Susan Zachary.

He was born in Cleveland on June 16, 1934, as Wilbert Francisco Cobbs. Before he began his acting career, he worked at IBM, as a car salesman, and a radar technician in the Air Force. He started doing stand-up comedy during his eight years in the Air Force.

He moved to New York when he was 36 to pursue his acting career, landing his first professional acting role in the Negro Ensemble Company’s production of “Ride a Black Horse.” He also landed roles in Broadway plays, including “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Black Picture Show.”

In the 1970s, he landed his first television role on “Vegetable Soup,” a New York public television series for children. In 1974, he landed a role with one line in the film “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.”

During his career, Cobb acted in over 150 television shows and movies. He had roles on television shows such as “One Tree Hill,” “The West Wing,” “The Sopranos,” “Sesame Street,” “ER,” “JAG,” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “NYPD Blue,” “Six Feet Under,” “Northern Exposure,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” He also had recurring roles on the television shows “I’ll Fly Away,” “The Gregory Hines Show,” “The Drew Carey Show,” and “Go On.”

However, his most notable roles were as the manager of the singer played by Whitney Houston in the 1992 film “The Bodyguard;” the “clock man” in the 1994 film “The Hudsucker Proxy;” a coach in the 1997 film “Air Bud; a police officer in the 1993 film “Demolition Man;” a jazz pianist in the 1996 film “That Thing You Do!;” Master Tinker in the 2013 film “Oz the Great and Powerful;” and a doctor in the 2002 film “Sunshine State.”

He was awarded a Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding limited performance in a daytime program for his role as Mr. Hendrickson in “Dino Dana: The Movie.”