Cleveland native and Karamu House alum Bill Cobbs has passed away at age 90.
The veteran actor鈥檚 screen work spanned small roles in 鈥淭he Taking of Pelham One Two Three鈥� and 鈥淭rading Places鈥� to meaty character parts in 鈥淭he Color of Money,鈥� 鈥淣ew Jack City鈥� and 鈥淣ight at the Museum.鈥� On television, he appeared on 鈥淕ood Times,鈥� 鈥淭he Sopranos鈥� and even 鈥淪esame Street.鈥� Series work included the role of Tony the bus driver on 鈥淭he Drew Carey Show鈥� and the main character鈥檚 father on 鈥淭he Gregory Hines Show.鈥�
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 精东影业鈥檚 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 鈥淎ir Bud,鈥� 鈥淕hosts of Mississippi,鈥� 鈥淭he Hudsucker Proxy鈥� and 鈥淭hat Thing You Do!鈥� In 2020, Cobbs won an Emmy for Outstanding Limited Performance in a Daytime Program for voice work in the animated Canadian series 鈥淒ino Dana.鈥�
Cobbs鈥� death was first reported on social media by family member Thomas G. Cobbs, who wrote that the actor 鈥減assed away peacefully at his home in California.鈥�
