Wilbert “Bill” Cobbs (born June 16, 1934) is an American film and television actor. He has starred in over 120 television programs and movies.
Cobbs was born in Cleveland, Ohio to a domestic worker mother and a father who worked in construction. His parents were hard-working people, who instilled in him a sense of self-reliance and humility. As an amateur actor in the city’s Karamu House Theater, he starred in the Ossie Davis play “Purlie Victorious.” Cobbs was an Air Force radar technician for eight years; he also worked in office products at IBM and sold cars in Cleveland. In 1970, at the age of 36, he left for New York to seek work as an actor. There he turned down a job in the NBC sales department in order to have time for auditions. He supported himself by driving a cab, repairing office equipment, selling toys, and performing odd jobs. His first professional acting role was in “Ride a Black Horse” at the Negro Ensemble Company. From there he appeared in small theater productions… read more
Wilbert “Bill” Cobbs (born June 16, 1934) is an American film and television actor. He has starred in over 120 television programs and movies.
Cobbs was born in Cleveland, Ohio to a domestic worker mother and a father who worked in construction. His parents were hard-working people, who instilled in him a sense of self-reliance and humility. As an amateur actor in the city’s Karamu House Theater, he starred in the Ossie Davis play “Purlie Victorious.” Cobbs was an Air Force radar technician for eight years; he also worked in office products at IBM and sold cars in Cleveland. In 1970, at the age of 36, he left for New York to seek work as an actor. There he turned down a job in the NBC sales department in order to have time for auditions. He supported himself by driving a cab, repairing office equipment, selling toys, and performing odd jobs. 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 Theater.
His first television credit was in “Vegetable Soup” (1976), a New York public television educational series, and he made his feature film debut in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three in 1974. In his free time Cobbs enjoys music, reading, and playing his drums. Cobbs has appeared and been a regular on many television programs including: The Michael Richards Show, The Outer Limits, I’ll Fly Away, Yes, Dear, The Sopranos, The Others, JAG, The Drew Carey Show, October Road, One Tree Hill and many more.
Bill is a second cousin of the late African-American actor and Song of the South star James Baskett.
In 2006, Cobbs played a supporting role in Night at the Museum as Reginald, a security guard on the verge of retirement. He also played basketball coach and retired basketball player Arthur Chaney in Disney’s Air Bud, and Medgar Evers’ older brother Charles Evers in Rob Reiner’s Ghosts of Mississippi. He had a pivotal role in the Coen Brothers’ The Hudsucker Proxy, and played a jazz pianist in Tom Hanks’ That Thing You Do.
He recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra’s ‘Hip-Hop Literacy’ campaign, encouraging reading of Ice-T’s autobiography.
