Actor Bill Cobbs dies at 90
Bill Cobbs, veteran actor known for his roles in the “The Hudsucker Proxy”, “The Bodyguard” and “Night at the Museum” has died. He was 90.
According to a report from the Associated Press (AP), the actor’s publicist Chuck Jones revealed that Cobbs died on Tuesday at his home in California, surrounded by family and friends. The publicist added that natural causes are the likely cause of Cobbs’ death, the international news outlet reported on Wednesday.
Cobbs made his first big-screen appearance in 1974 with a role in “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.” He became a lifelong actor with some 200 film and TV credits, most of which came in his 50s, 60s, and 70s.
Born Wilbert Francisco Cobbs on June 16, 1934, the actor served eight years in the US Air Force after graduating high school in Cleveland, AP said.
The news outlet added that in the years after his service, Cobbs sold cars. One day, a customer asked him if he wanted to act in a play. Cobbs first appeared on stage in 1969. He began to act in Cleveland theatre and later moved to New York where he joined the Negro Ensemble Company, acting alongside Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.
Cobbs later said acting resonated with him as a way to express the human condition, in particular during the Civil Rights Movement in the late ’60s, AP said.
