Bill Cobbs

Not to be confused with Bill Cosby.

Bill Cobbs
Cobbs in Dear Secret Santa (2013)
Born	Wilbert Francisco Cobbs (1934-06-16)June 16, 1934 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died	June 25, 2024(2024-06-25) (aged 90) Upland, California, U.S.
Resting place	Riverside National Cemetery
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1974–2024
Relatives	James Baskett (second cousin)

Wilbert Francisco Cobbs (June 16, 1934 – June 25, 2024) was an American actor, known for such film roles as Louisiana Slim in The Hitter (1979), Walter in The Brother from Another Planet (1984), Reginald in Night at the Museum (2006) and Master Tinker on Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). He also played Lewis Coleman on I'll Fly Away (1991–1993), Jack on The Michael Richards Show (2000), and had guest appearances on Walker, Texas Ranger and The Sopranos. In 2012, he had a reoccurring role as George in the sitcom, Go On. In 2020, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Performance in a Daytime Program for the series Dino Dana.

Early life

Wilbert Francisco Cobbs was born on June 16, 1934, in Cleveland, Ohio, to a mother, Vera, who was a domestic worker and a father, David, who worked in construction. He had a brother named Thomas Cobbs. He was the second cousin of Song of the South actor James Baskett.

Career

Cobbs served in the U.S. Air Force as a radar technician for eight years; he also worked in office products at IBM and sold cars in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1970, at the age of 36, he left for New York to seek work as an actor. He supported himself by driving a cab, repairing office equipment, selling toys, and performing odd jobs.

Cobb credited Reuben Silver with his start in acting at the African American Performing Arts Center and Karamu House Theatre in Cleveland. His first professional acting role was in Ride a Black Horse at the Negro Ensemble Company. From there, he appeared in small theater productions, street theater, regional theater, and at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

As an amateur actor in the city's Karamu House Theater, Cobbs starred in the Ossie Davis play Purlie Victorious. Cobbs was in Vegetable Soup (1976), a New York public television educational series, and he made his feature film debut with a one-line role in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three in 1974. Cobbs had an extensive film career over the next several decades including the bartender in Trading Places (1983), the man in the lunchroom in Silkwood (1983), The Brother from Another Planet (1984), The Color of Money (1986), a doctor in Bird (1988), the old man who shoots Wesley Snipes in New Jack City (1991), the grandpa in The People Under the Stairs (1991), the singer's manager in The Bodyguard (1992), a police officer in Demolition Man (1993), the "clock man" in the Coen Brothers' The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Medgar Evers's older brother Charles Evers in Rob Reiner's Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), fictional jazz pianist Del Paxton in Tom Hanks's That Thing You Do (1996), Basketball coach and retired basketball player Arthur Chaney in Disney's Air Bud (1997), Hope Floats (1998), the boat hand porter in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), a doctor in Sunshine State (2002), Enough (2002), and a blues musician in A Mighty Wind (2003).

He also appeared and was a regular on many television programs, including as Lewis Coleman on I'll Fly Away (1991–1993), James on The Gregory Hines Show (1997-1998), Jack on The Michael Richards Show (2000), and George, a blind grief-support-group member, on Go On (2012-2013). He also appeared on Good Times, Sesame Street, The Outer Limits; ER, Six Feet Under; The Others; JAG; The Drew Carey Show; Walker, Texas Ranger, The Sopranos, October Road; One Tree Hill; Star Trek: Enterprise (as Dr. Emory Erickson, inventor of the Transporter); Bill Cobbs also had a small roll, with scene partner, funny, Michael McKean, in Christopher Guest/Eugene Levy hilarious comedy, (dog-show, mockumentary); “Best in Show,” (2000); and many more.

In 2006, Cobbs played a supporting role in Night at the Museum as Reginald, a security guard on the verge of retirement. The character also served as an antagonist to the story. He played a priest in Get Low (2009). He also had brief appearances in the 2010 film The Search for Santa Paws, and the 2011 film The Muppets.

In 2013, Cobbs co-starred in Oz the Great and Powerful as the Master Tinker, and in late 2014 reprised his role of Reginald in Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. He recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's Hip-Hop Literacy2 campaign, encouraging reading of Ice-T's autobiography.

In 2020, he guest starred in the two-part series finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., portraying an unnamed elderly S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Also in 2020, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Performance in a Daytime Program for the series Dino Dana. His last credited appearance came in 2023, in the mini-series Incandescent Love.

Death

Cobbs died at his home in Upland, California, on June 25, 2024, at the age of 90. He never married and had no children.

Filmography

Film roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	The Taking of Pelham One Two Three	Man on Platform
1975	A Boy and a Boa	Father	Short film
1977	Greased Lightning	Mr. Jones
1978	A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich	Bartender
1979	The Hitter	Louisiana Slim
1983	Trading Places	Terry the Bartender
	Silkwood	Man in Lunchroom
1984	The Brother from Another Planet	Walter
	The Cotton Club	Big Joe Ison
1985	Compromising Positions	Sgt. Williams
1986	The Color of Money	Orvis
1987	Five Corners	Man in Coffee Shop
	Suspect	Judge Franklin
1988	Dominick and Eugene	Jesse Johnson
	Bird	Dr. Caulfield
1989	The January Man	Detective Reilly
	Picking Tribes	Voice-over	Short film
1991	New Jack City	Old Man
	The Hard Way	Raggedy Man
	The People Under the Stairs	Grandpa Booker
1992	Roadside Prophets	Oscar
	Exiled in America	Abraham White
	The Bodyguard	Bill Devaney
1993	Demolition Man	Zachery Lamb - Aged
	Fatal Instinct	Man in Park	Uncredited
1994	The Hudsucker Proxy	Moses
1995	Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead	Malt
	Fluke	Bert
	Man with a Gun	Henry Griggs
	Tuesday Morning Ride	Jeff	Short film
	Goldilocks and the Three Bears	Caleb
	Captiva Island	Vernon
1996	Ed	Tipton
	First Kid	Speet
	That Thing You Do!	Del Paxton
	Ghosts of Mississippi	Charles Evers
1997	Soulmates	Mr. Williams
	Air Bud	Coach Arthur Chaney
1998	Paulie	Virgil the Janitor
	Hope Floats	Nurse
	I Still Know What You Did Last Summer	Estes
1999	Random Hearts	Marvin
2002	Sunshine State	Dr. Elton Lloyd
	Enough	Jim Toller
2003	A Mighty Wind	Blues Musician
2004	The Mortuary	Franklin Harmon
	Lost	Jeremy's Boss
2005	Inner Demon	Arnold	Short film
	Squirrel Man	Morgan Wendell
	Return to Sender	Saul Burroughs
	Duck	Norman
	The Derby Stallion	Houston Jones
	The Final Patient	Dr. Daniel Green
	Special Ed	Lou
2006	Sent	Doctor	Short film
	Hard Luck	Cobb	Direct-to-video
	The Ultimate Gift	Mr. Theophilus Hamilton
	Night at the Museum	Reginald
	Sweet Deadly Dreams	Barney
2007	Three Days to Vegas	Marvin Jeffries
2008	Grim Abdication	Enforcer	Short film
	This Man's Life	Myer Truman
	The Dark Horse	Quincey
	The Morgue	George	Direct-to-video
2009	The Rebel Heart	Cephas Cordner
	My Summer Friend	Walter	Short film
	Steadfast	John
	Get Low	Rev. Charlie Jackson
	Black Water Transit	Frank Vermillion
	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	Reginald	Deleted scene
2010	No Limit Kids: Much Ado About Middle School	Charlie
	The Search for Santa Paws	Mr. Stewart	Direct-to-video
	The Tenant	Jack Rymer
	Stroll	Clayton	Short film
2011	The Arcadian	Charles
	The Muppets	Grandfather
2012	The Undershepherd	Dr. Ezekiel Cannon
	Lukewarm	Thomas
	Branch Line	Conductor	Short film
2013	Oz the Great and Powerful	Master Tinker
	The Ultimate Life	Mr. Theophilus Hamilton
	The Last Letter	Pastor
	Vampires in Venice	Dr. Dooley
2014	Tiffany at Breakfast	Him	Short film
	Of Mind and Music	Stompleg
	Christmas in Palm Springs	Gabriel
	Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb	Reginald
	On Angel's Wings	Mr. Dupac
2015	A House Is Not a Home	Paul
	The Great Gilly Hopkins	Mr. Randolph
2016	New Life	Mr. Charles
2017	Beyond the Silence	Judge Johnson
	Call Me King	Malachi
	FuN?	Monte	Short film
	The Weight	Ezra Thomas
2018	As Evil Does	Jeremiah
	Clipped Wings, They Do Fly	Judge Johnson
2019	Beyond the Law	Swilley
2020	Dino Dana: The Movie	Mr. Hendrickson
2021	Saving Paradise	John Thompson
2022	Block Party	Uncle Jim
	Caroltyn	Dr. Mason	Last film prior to death

Television roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	First Ladies Diaries: Rachel Jackson	George	TV movie
1976	Good Times	George Gillard	Episode: "Evans Versus Davis"
1977–1978	Baby, I'm Back	Att. Adam Johnson	2 episodes
1978	King		Miniseries
1982	The Member of the Wedding	T.T. Williams	TV movie
1983	Rage of Angels	Abraham Wilson	Miniseries
1985	The Equalizer	Barry	Episode: "The Distant Fire"
	Sesame Street	Lee	Episode #17.30
1986	Johnny Bull	Wiggins	TV movie
	Kate & Allie	Sam Butcher	2 episodes
1987	Spenser: For Hire	Larry Sills	Episode: "If You Knew Sammy"
1987–1988	The Slap Maxwell Story	The Dutchman	Main cast
1988	L.A. Law	Webb Johnson	Episode: "Belle of the Bald"
1989	Homeroom	Phil Drexler	Main cast
1990	Designing Women	Henry / Charlie	Episode: "Papa Was a Rolling Stone"
	Married People	Willis	Episode: "Money Changes Everything"
	Gabriel's Fire	Walker Green	Episode: "I'm Nobody"
	The Trials of Rosie O'Neill	Fish Fry Baby	Episode: "Rosie Gets the Blues"
	Decoration Day	Gee Pennywell	TV movie
	Moe's World		TV Pilot
1991	True Colors	Bernard Freeman	Episode: "Favorite Son"
	Carolina Skeletons	Elijah Crooks	TV movie
1991–1993	I'll Fly Away	Lewis Coleman	Main cast
1993	Coach	George	Episode: "Why So Happy, Hayden?"
	I'll Fly Away: Then and Now	Lewis Coleman	TV movie
1994	Empty Nest	Jerome	Episode: "Gesundeit"
	Northern Exposure	Angelo Maxwell	Episode: "The Letter"
1995	The Watcher		Episode: "Reversal of Fortune"
	Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long	Pullman Porter	TV movie
	Divas	Sippy
	Out There	Lyman Weeks
1996	NYPD Blue	Norval Stevens	Episode: "The Nutty Confessor"
	ER	Mr. Bowman	Episode: "The Match Game"
	Nightjohn	Old Man	TV movie
	Thrill	Norm Duprey
	Stories from the Edge		TV movie; Segment: "Tuesday Morning Ride"
1997	The Outer Limits	Second Elder - Prisoner No. 91777	Episode: "The Camp"
	Walker, Texas Ranger	Gino Costa	Episode: "Full Contact"
	The Wayans Bros.	Fred Watson	Episode: "The Black Widower"
	High Incident	Emmett	Episode: "Starting Over"
1997–1998	The Gregory Hines Show	James Stevenson	Main cast
1998	Always Outnumbered	Right Burke	TV movie
	The Wild Thornberrys	Chief (voice)	Episode: "Dinner with Darwin"
	L.A. Doctors	Bob	Episode: "What About Bob?"
1998–1999	For Your Love	Uncle Stanley	2 episodes
1999	The Outer Limits	Joe Dell	Episode: "Fathers and Sons"
2000	The Sopranos	Reverend James, Sr.	Episode: "Do Not Resuscitate"
	The Practice	Arthur Turner	Episode: "Till Death Do Us Part"
	The Others	Elmer Greentree	Main cast
	For All Time	Proprietor / Conductor	TV movie
	The Michael Richards Show	Jack	Main cast
2001	The Fighting Fitzgeralds	Chet Armatrow	Episode: "The Fire Fight"
	Touched by an Angel	Henry Baldwin	Episode: "Band of Angels"
	Six Feet Under	Mr. Jones	Episode: "The Room"
	Rugrats	Uncle Charles (voice)	Episode: "A Rugrats Kwanzaa"
	Philly	Warren Bell	Episode: "Loving Sons"
	Bitter Winter		TV movie
2001–2003	JAG	Chaplain Matthew Turner	4 episodes
2002	The West Wing	Alan Tatum	Episode: "Enemies Foreign and Domestic"
	My Wife and Kids	Minister	2 episodes
2002–2004	The Drew Carey Show	Tony	9 episodes
2003	The Division	Mr. Greene	Episode: "Strangers"
	NYPD Blue	Bernie Carpenter	Episode: "Maybe Baby"
2004	Soul Food	Mr. Bradford	Episode: "Fear Eats the Soul"
2005	Star Trek: Enterprise	Dr. Emory Erickson	Episode: "Daedalus"
	Yes, Dear	Starter	Episode: "Greg's a Mooch"
		Counterman	Episode: "Barbecue"
2007	October Road	Mr. Bolivar	Episode: "Forever Until Now"
	Side Order of Life	Eddie Morgan	Episode: "Separation Anxiety"
2008	Players at the Poker Palace	Bill	Episode: "A Couple of Black Yankees"
	Army Wives	Harry	Episode: "The Messenger"
	One Tree Hill	Gus	Episode: "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream: Part I"
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Harry Bastille	Episode: "Young Man with a Horn"
2010	The Glades	Gregory Richmond	Episode: "Honey"
2011	Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior	Bishop Sanford	Episode: "Lonely Hearts"
	Harry's Law	Judge	Episode: "American Dreams"
2012–2013	Go On	George	Recurring
2013	Back in the Game	James	Episode: "Night Games"
	Dear Secret Santa	Ted	TV movie
2014	The Bay	Boyd Bloom	1 episode
	Rake	Judge Rutchland	Recurring
2015	Hand of God	Papa Gene	2 episodes
2016	The Ultimate Legacy	Mr. Theophilus Hamilton	TV movie
	The Mastermind 5	The Mentor	TV Pilot
2016–2017	Greenleaf	Henry McCready	Recurring
2017	The Carmichael Show	Vernon	Episode: "Evelyn & Vernon"
	My Christmas Grandpa	Fred	TV Short
	Hannah Royce's Questionable Choices	Jack	TV Pilot
2017–2019	Dino Dana	Mr. Hendrickson	6 episodes
2018	Superior Donuts	Luther "Wheels" Langdon	Episode: "Always Bet On Black"
2020	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	Elderly S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent	Episode: "The End Is at Hand"
2023	Incandescent Love	Daddy D-Usher	Miniseries; final role

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
2006	Trenton Film Festival	Narrative Feature - Best Actor	The Final Patient	Winner
2019	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Performer in a Children's, Family Viewing or Special Class Program	Dino Dana	Nominated
2020	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Limited Performance in Daytime Program	Dino Dana	Winner

External links

• Bill Cobbs at IMDb