Bill Cobbs, Veteran Character Actor, Dies At 90

ST PETERSBURG, FL: Actor Bill Cobbs attends the Sunscreen Film Festival Opening Night at Baywalk ... [+] Muvico on April 14, 2010 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Tim Boyles/Getty Images)

Bill Cobbs, who amassed a whopping 200 credits as an actor in a career spanning six decades, died on Tuesday at his home in the Inland Empire region of California. He was 90. No cause of death was given.

“We are saddened to share the passing of Bill Cobbs. On Tuesday, June 25, Bill passed away peacefully at his home in California,” read a post on Facebook by his family. “A beloved partner, big brother, uncle, surrogate parent, godfather and friend, Bill recently and happily celebrated his 90th birthday surrounded by cherished loved ones. As a family we are comforted knowing Bill has found peace and eternal rest with his Heavenly Father. We ask for your prayers and encouragement during this time.”

Born Wilbert Fransicso Cobbs on June 16, 1934 in Cleveland, Ohio, Cobbs spent eight years working as a radar technician in the Air Force, where he started doing standup comedy prior to acting. 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.

Cobbs’ first television credit came on a public television series for children, called Vegetable Soup. Next was his first round of guest roles on television including sitcoms Good Times and Baby...I’m Back!, and a variety of TV movies.

His big-screen debut was a minor part, a man on a platform, in the 1974 thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. Early film roles included Greased Lightning, Trading Spaces and Silkwood.

Through the course of his career, Cobbs had regular or recurring roles on television in period drama I’ll Fly Away, sci-fi drama The Others, and comedies The Slap Maxwell Story, Homeroom, The Gregory Hines Show, The Michael Richards Show, The Drew Carey Show, and Go On. He also appeared as a guest in dozens of TV series including One Life to Live, The Equalizer, Sesame Street, Spenser: For Hire, L.A. Law, Designing Women, Coach, Empty Nest, Northern Exporuse, Walker, Texas Ranger, The Sopranos, The West Wing, L.A. Law, Star Trek: Enterprise, Six Feet Under, Marvel’s Agents of .S.H.I.E.L.D., The Carmichael Show, and Superior Donuts.

LOS ANGELES - Frustrated by Fawz's willingness to exploit Black History Month to make a buck, Franco ... [+] invites Wheels Langdon (Bill Cobbs), a former Negro League baseball player, to the shop to share his unsung story on SUPERIOR DONUTS on CBS. Pictured L-R: Bill Cobbs as Luther "Wheels" Langdon and Jermaine Fowler as Franco (Photo by Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images)

Some of his notable film roles were included The Bodyguard, The Hudsucker Proxy, Demolition Man, That Thing You Do and Night at the Museum.

Bill Cobbs and Dexter during "Night at the Museum" DVD Exhibit and Launch Party at Natural History ... [+] Museum in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Chris Polk/FilmMagic for Fox Home Entertainment)

In 2020 Cobbs won a Daytime Emmy Award for his work on Dino Dana, a television show about a child who loves dinosaurs.

His final screen credit was in 2023 via TV miniseries Incandescent Love.