Bill Cobbs remembered: Fellow artists pay tribute

Bill Cobbs put in hours and pictures. He was 90 when he died on June 25 at his home in Riverside, California, and had earned more than 200 screen credits, including numerous dramatic productions. Born Wilbert Francisco Cobbs in Cleveland, Ohio, around 1934, in an hour and a playground where a retarded man was not always confident in his dignity and especially in his rights, Cobbs came into this world and grew up there in a month -Seeing oneself on a huge display screen was simply unimaginable. Sure, there were exceptions to the stereotype played by Stephin Fetchit as well as the grandeur of Paul Robeson, but the idea of ​​being an actor wasn’t one that came automatically to Cobbs. He tried his hand at music, spent 8 years as a radar technician and coffee humorist at American Wind Energy, bought cars, even worked at IBM, but sometimes, acting computer viruses took the reserve Took and don’t release.

At the age of 36, Cobbs moved to Fresh York Town, where he offered himself a variety of random gigs and unusual jobs, although his first focus was shaping himself as an actor. He performed in a variety of ways, from street racing to the stage of the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. As he moved into film, his career became marked by many unnamed roles. Guy on platform in “The Taking of Pelham 123” (1974). The boy in the lunchroom in “Silkwood” (1983). Although those background roles didn’t show off the entire range of skills of this huge, charismatic actor, there were a few things to be sure. Cobbs was once such a man.

By no means a soft man on screen, the more the pace was crafted for Cobbs – the more his accent defined itself and his vision deepened – the more the casting director and filmmakers seemed homogeneous. As if it depended on him. He by no means barred presence, but that presence only became better, more significant, for the films he starred in and enthralled audiences. And so they were not alone. After his demise, his longtime colleagues shared an outpouring of affection and memories in running stories of this favorite member of their people.

https://twitter.com/WendellPierce/status/1806081169588416513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank

https://twitter.com/SamuelLJackson/status/1806161851195199991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank

https://twitter.com/JamesUrbaniak/status/1806127709476749783?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank

https://twitter.com/thesherylralph/status/1806066914994831640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank

https://twitter.com/jaugustrichards/status/1806032484381208972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank

https://twitter.com/BenStiller/status/1806080362419826920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank

Honoring his work and memory, IndieWire has listed some of our favorite Cobbs performances below.

“New Jack City” (dir. Mario Van Peebles, 1991)

Although only named “Old Man” in the film, Cobbs stands out sharply and brutally as the righteous, moral center of a people being destroyed from within by crime, drugs, and the influence of Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes). Like most of his roles, Cobbs’ time on screen is short, but the impact of his presence becomes cloudless in the film’s final moments, as his personality highlights the justice not delivered by the criminal system. ,

“that thing You Do!” (Director Tom Hanks, 1996)

If you were an artist at the end of your career, it would be Bill Cobbs who would give you advice. The feeling that he’s been there and done that is so pervasive in every fiber of his being that you can’t help but believe what he says. Although it would be a highlight of the film to see him say “That Thing You Do!” I didn’t get a chance to do much. Although inspired by the white drummer of a pop band, his inclusion in the narrative is important to the message of remembering the joy you can only find in having fun. In the form of jazz pianist Dale Paxton, Cobbs also gets a chance to incorporate a musical dream that he himself had behind him, giving the area a realism about the nature with which he comes in contact. -Also cultivates target audience.

“Air Bud” (dir. Charles Martin Smith, 1997)

One could say that the entire reason this absurdly crafted gem of the ’90s actually works is because of Cobb’s performance as Trainer Cheney, a pro-basketball player turned major college maintenance engineer. Who has been given second promotion. It’s a sport he loves and thinks dogs should too. Sure, this is a children’s movie, meant to be silly and fantastical, but the sincerity with which Cobbs conveys his trust in the dogs, as well as the children he trains, in the middle of the film is… What makes it a classic is his famous line, “You check your rule book, but you won’t find anything in there that says a dog can’t play,” long languishing in meme-ified history. Is.

“The West Wing” (Season 3, Episode 18, “Enemies Foreign and Domestic”)

What begins as a simple letter to the President turns into a poignant history lesson for President Charlie Young (Dulé Hill), a personal aide. At the beginning of the episode, Charlie is given a letter from a little boy, addressed to the President, but he is confused by a significant amount of language written in it. This refers to figures that Charlie is not aware of and organizations that are no longer alive. Eventually, Charlie understood that the letter was from the thirties, was written to FDR, and had not yet been delivered. Inspired by the events, Charlie invites the boy, now a weary man played by Cobbs, to meet the Wave President, who he wrote goodbye to in the past. For just one scene in the episode, Cobbs brings with him an amazing history, including the richness of one of the show’s more memorable segments.

“The Sopranos” (Season 2, Episode 2, “Do Not Resuscitate”)

It would have been easy for the writers of “The Sopranos” to put James Gandolfini’s Tony in a room with a dim Reverend and bring out something offensive in him, but instead, Tony’s conversation with Cobb’s Reverend James, Sr. is a Remind that nature, perhaps more than everything else, cares about where it came from and about the multitudes that have helped improve the country it loves and wants to take advantage of. In an unprecedented example, Cobbs made Gandolfini short, allowing our view of Tony and his playground in this world to dangle into an unused focal point.