Cleveland native and Karamu House alum Bill Cobbs has passed away at age 90.
The veteran actor’s screen work spanned small roles in “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” and “Trading Places” to meaty character parts in “The Color of Money,” “New Jack City” and “Night at the Museum.” On television, he appeared on “Good Times,” “The Sopranos” and even “Sesame Street.” Series work included the role of Tony the bus driver on “The Drew Carey Show” and the main character’s father on “The Gregory Hines Show.”
Cobbs grew up in Cleveland and graduated from East Tech High School. He served eight years in the U.S. Air Force, then worked for IBM and sold cars before debuting at Karamu House in 1969. He credited then-artistic director Reuben Silver for his start. A year later, at age 36, he moved to New York City to further his career.
Cobbs returned to Karamu for its centennial in 2015.
"There was something magical to me about coming to Karamu House and getting on stage for the first time," he told Ideastream’s David C. Barnett. "I think a part of that was having known about the theater here for so many years and not having the nerve to come and be a part of it."
In a career lasted six decades, he played memorable parts in “Air Bud,” “Ghosts of Mississippi,” “The Hudsucker Proxy” and “That Thing You Do!” In 2020, Cobbs won an Emmy for Outstanding Limited Performance in a Daytime Program for voice work in the animated Canadian series “Dino Dana.”
Cobbs’ death was first reported on social media by family member Thomas G. Cobbs, who wrote that the actor “passed away peacefully at his home in California.”
