Bill Cobbs

Wilbert Francisco "Bill" Cobbs (born June 16, 1934) is an American actor.

Early life
Cobbs was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a mother who was a domestic worker and a father who worked in construction.

Career
As an amateur actor in the city's Karamu House Theater, Cobbs starred in the Ossie Davis play Purlie Victorious. Cobbs served in the United States Air Force as a 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 Theatre.

Cobbs 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. Cobbs has an extensive film career and 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, Six Feet Under, The Others, JAG, The Drew Carey Show, October Road, One Tree Hill, Star Trek: Enterprise (as Dr. Emory Hopkins, inventor of the Transporter) and many more. He had a recurring role as George, a blind grief-support-group member, in the TV series, Go On, which premiered in 2012.

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 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 role in the Coen Brothers' The Hudsucker Proxy and played fictional jazz pianist Del Paxton in Tom Hanks' That Thing You Do, He did a Brief appearance in the 2010 film The Search for Santa Paws. In 2013, Cobbs costarred in Oz the Great and Powerful, 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.

Film

 * The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) as Man on Platform
 * Greased Lightning (1977) as Mr. Jones
 * A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich (1978) as Bartender
 * The Hitter (1979) as Louisiana Slim
 * Trading Places (1983) as Bartender
 * Silkwood (1983) as Man in Lunchroom
 * The Brother from Another Planet (1984) as Walter
 * The Cotton Club (1984) as Big Joe Ison
 * Compromising Positions (1985) as Sgt. Williams
 * The Color of Money (1986) as Orvis
 * Five Corners (1987) as Man in Coffee Shop
 * Suspect (1987) as Judge Franklin
 * Dominick and Eugene (1988) as Jesse Johnson
 * Bird (1988) as Dr. Caulfield
 * The January Man (1989) as Detective Reilly
 * Decoration Day (1990, TV Movie) as Gee Pennywell
 * New Jack City (1991) as Old Man
 * The Hard Way (1991) as Raggedy Man
 * Carolina Skeletons (1991, TV Movie) as Elijah Crooks
 * The People Under the Stairs (1991) as Grandpa Booker
 * Roadside Prophets (1992) as Oscar
 * Exiled in America (1992) as Abraham White
 * The Bodyguard (1992) as Bill Devaney
 * Demolition Man (1993) as Zachery Lamb (Aged)
 * Fatal Instinct (1993) as Man in park (uncredited)
 * The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) as Moses
 * Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995) as Malt
 * Fluke (1995) as Bert
 * Man with a Gun (1995) as Henry Griggs
 * Goldilocks and the Three Bears (1995) as Caleb
 * Captiva Island (1995) as Vernon
 * Ed (1996) as Tipton
 * That Thing You Do! (1996) as Del Paxton
 * First Kid (1996) as Speet
 * Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) as Charles Evers
 * Soulmates (1997) as Mr. Williams
 * Air Bud (1997) as Coach Arthur Chaney
 * Always Outnumbered (1998, TV Movie) as Right Burke
 * Paulie (1998) as Virgil the Janitor
 * Hope Floats (1998) as Nurse
 * I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) as Estes
 * Random Hearts (1999) as Marvin
 * The Others (2000, TV Series) as Elmer Greentree
 * For All Time (2000, TV Movie) as Proprietor / Conductor
 * Sunshine State (2002) as Dr. Elton Lloyd
 * Enough (2002) as Jim Toller
 * A Mighty Wind (2003) as Blues Musician
 * The Mortuary (2004) as Franklin Harmon
 * Lost (2004) as Jeremy's Boss
 * Duck (2005) as Norman
 * The Derby Stallion (2005) as Houston Jones
 * The Final Patient (2005) as Dr. Daniel Green
 * Special Ed (2005) as Lou
 * Sweet Deadly Dreams (2006) as Barney
 * Hard Luck (2006) as Cobb
 * The Ultimate Gift (2006) as Mr. Theophilus Hamilton
 * Night at the Museum (2006) as Reginald
 * Three Days to Vegas (2007) as Marvin Jeffries
 * The Morgue (2008) as George
 * HappySAD (2009) as Cephas Cordner
 * Get Low (2009) as Rev. Charlie Jackson
 * Black Water Transit (2009) as Frank Vermillion
 * Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) as Reginald (scene deleted)
 * The Tenant (2010) as Jack Rymer
 * No Limit Kids: Much Ado About Middle School (2010) as Charlie
 * The Search for Santa Paws (2010) as Mr. Stewart
 * The Arcadian (2011) as Charles
 * The Muppets (2011) as Grandfather
 * The Undershepherd (2012) as Dr. Ezekiel Cannon
 * Lukewarm (2012) as Thomas
 * Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) as Master Tinker
 * The Ultimate Life (2013) as Mr. Theophilus Hamilton
 * The Last Letter (2013) as Pastor
 * Vampires in Venice (2013) as Dr. Dooley
 * Dear Secret Santa (2013) as Ted
 * On Angel's Wings (2014) as Mr. Dupac
 * Clipped Wings, They Do Fly (2014) as Judge Johnson
 * Of Mind and Music (2014) as Stompleg
 * Christmas in Palm Springs (2014) as Gabriel
 * Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014) as Reginald
 * A House Is Not a Home (2015) as Paul
 * The Great Gilly Hopkins (2015) as Mr. Randolph
 * Call Me King (2016) as Malachi
 * New Life (2016) as Mr. Charles

Television

 * Sesame Street – episode – 17.30 – Lee (1985)
 * Kate & Allie – multiple episodes – Sam Butcher (1986)
 * I'll Fly Away – regular – Lewis Coleman (1991–93)
 * Coach – episode – Why So Happy, Hayden? – George (1993)
 * NYPD Blue – episode – The Nutty Confessor – Norval Stevens (1996)
 * The Outer Limits – multiple episodes – "The Camp", second Elder (1997) – "Fathers and Sons", Joe Dell (1999)
 * The Wayans Bros. (1997)
 * Walker, Texas Ranger – episode – Full Contact – Gino Costa (1997)
 * The Sopranos – episode – Do Not Resuscitate – Reverend James, Sr. (2000)
 * The Others - regular - Elmer Greentree (2000)
 * ''The Michael Richards Show - regular - Jack (2000)
 * JAG – episode – Answered Prayers – Chaplain Matthew Turner (2001)
 * Six Feet Under, Season 1 – episode 6 (2001)
 * Rugrats – episode – A Rugrats Kwanzaa (2001)
 * JAG – episode – Port Chicago – Chaplain Matthew Turner (2002)
 * JAG – episode – Posse Comitatus – Chaplain Matthew Turner (2003)
 * The West Wing – episode – Enemies Foreign and Domestic – Alan Tatum (2002)
 * JAG – episode – A Merry Little Christmas – Chaplain Matthew Turner (2003)
 * Star Trek: Enterprise – episode – Daedalus – Dr. Emory Erickson (2005)
 * The Glades – episode – Honey – Gregory Richmond (2010)
 * Harry's Law – episode – American Dreams (2011)
 * Greenleaf – episode – One Train May Hide Another (2016)
 * The Carmichael Show – episode – Evelyn & Vernon – Vernon (2017)
 * Superior Donuts – episode – Always Bet On Black – Luther "Wheels" Langdon - (2018)