Bill Cobbs Passes Away at 90: Beloved Character Actor is No More

At 90, Bill Cobbs, the renowned character actor recognized for his wise and omnipresent on-screen persona, departed from this life. Cobbs’ publicist said that the actor, who starred in movies such as “The Hudsucker Proxy” and “Night at the Museum,” passed away at home in California surrounded by his loved ones. There is a suspicion of natural causes.

Bill Cobbs Cause of Death:

Bill Cobbs passed away on Tuesday night. He was a well-known character actor whose half-century career took off in his middle years. His roles included those on “Sesame Street,” “The Sopranos,” and “Night at the Museum.” He was ninety years old.

His brother Thomas G. Cobbs confirmed his death on social media, and his agent Carmela Evangelista verified that he passed away at his home in the Californian Inland Empire. The reason for death was not stated.

Bill Cobbs Acting Career:

Even though Mr. Cobbs was hardly a Hollywood celebrity, anyone who had watched TV or movies in the previous few decades might know his face. He acted in over 200 films and TV shows and was well-known for his theatrical work.

In a 2012 interview with the podcast “Movie Geeks United,” Mr. Cobbs, whose real name is Wilbert Francisco Cobbs, stated that he began performing stand-up comedy during his eight years as a radar technician in the Air Force. In addition, he was an automobile salesperson at IBM.

His performance in the comedy “Purlie Victorious” by Ossie Davis, which tells the story of a Black preacher’s quest to restore his local church, significantly impacted his career.

“That play taught me that, in addition to being a way to entertain people and touch them in different ways, there were things you could say related to the human condition,” the actor remarked. “I could say a lot of essential, meaningful things on stage, in movies, and on television,” he added.

Based on his IMDb description, he was 36 when he came to New York in 1970 to pursue acting, doing odd jobs, including toy sales, taxi driving, and office equipment maintenance. He made his stage debut in “Ride a Black Horse” at the Negro Ensemble Company. He then went on to perform in Broadway plays such as “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Black Picture Show,” as well as minor theater productions for several years.

His first TV appearance was on the anti-racism children’s program “Vegetable Soup,” which was broadcast by the government. His on-screen debut came in the 1974 thriller “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,” when he played a guy on a platform in a small role. In a 2013 interview, he told Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer that he had just one sentence.

“Everyone was waiting for my appearance when I returned home to see my parents and all of our friends and neighbors who had gone to see the movie,” he added. “In the metro, I approach a police officer and say, ‘Hey, guy. What’s happening?

More parts appeared in the 1980s in films, including Paul Newman and Tom Cruise’s “The Color of Money,” “Trading Places,” and the beloved science fiction picture “The Brother From Another Planet.” Then, in 1987, he was cast in the single season of the ABC sitcom “The Slap Maxwell Story,” costarring with Dabney Coleman, who passed away in May.

Additional recurrent parts followed on shows including “I’ll Fly Away,” “The Gregory Hines Show,” “The Drew Carey Show,” and, most recently, Matthew Perry’s “Go On.”

Cobbs’s TV Appearances:

Mr. Cobbs’s television performances span the past fifty years, spanning shows such as “Good Times,” “ER,” “Northern Exposure,” “One Life to Live,” “L.A. Law,” “Kate and Allie,” “Spenser: For Hire,” “Sesame Street,” “I’ll Fly Away,” and “Sesame Street.” The Texas Ranger Walker “JAG,” “One Tree Hill,” “The Sopranos,” “The West Wing,” “NYPD Blue,” “Six Feet Under,” “Superior Donuts,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,”.

He played Whitney Houston’s manager in “The Bodyguard,” the clock man in “The Hudsucker Proxy,” a coach in the basketball-playing dog movie “Air Bud,” a police officer in the thriller “Demolition Man,” a well-known jazz pianist in “That Thing You Do!”, Master Tinker in “Oz the Great and Powerful,” and a doctor in the drama “Sunshine State,” among other noteworthy roles in motion pictures.

According to his publicist Chuck I. Jones, one of his favorite parts was playing the security guard in “Night at the Museum” alongside Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke, and Mickey Rooney. He played the same part in the follow-up, “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.”

For his work on the television series “Dino Dana,” which centers on a young dinosaur enthusiast, Mr. Cobbs was honored with a Daytime Emmy Award in 2020. In 2023, he had his final acknowledged appearance in the miniseries “Incandescent Love.”

“I truly enjoy what I do,” he remarked in the 2012 interview. “Having a project, working on it, and seeing it through to completion is exciting, which is why I enjoy doing this so much.”