Lee J. Cobb Movies

Want to know the best Lee J. Cobb movies?  How about the worst Lee J. Cobb movies?  Curious about Lee J. Cobb box office grosses or which Lee J. Cobb movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Lee J. Cobb movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Lee J. Cobb (1911-1976) was an Oscar® nominated American actor.  His best known roles include:  1954’s  On the Waterfront, 1957’s 12 Angry Men, and 1973’s The Exorcist.   Cobb  also played the role of Willy Loman in the original Broadway production of Arthur Miller’s 1949 play Death of a Salesman.   His IMDb page shows 104 acting credits from 1934 to 1976.   This page will rank Lee J. Cobb movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos, uncredited roles and movies that were not released in North American were not included in the rankings. This UMR page was requested by John.

Lee J. Cobb and an unknown actor in 1954’s On The Waterfront

Lee J. Cobb Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

1957’s 12 Angry Men

Lee J. Cobb Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Lee J. Cobb movies by his co-stars
  • Sort Lee J. Cobb movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Lee J. Cobb movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Lee J. Cobb movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Lee J. Cobb movie received.
  • Sort Lee J. Cobb movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
1973’s The Exorcist

Best IMDb trivia on Lee J. Cobb

  1. Leo Jacoby was born in New York City in 1911.

2.  Lee J. Cobb was a child prodigy in music, mastering the violin and the harmonica. Any hopes of a career as a violin virtuoso were dashed when he broke his wrist

3.  The part of Willy Loman in the stage play “Death of a Salesman” was written specifically for Lee J. Cobb by Arthur Miller.

4. Lee J. Cobb was the original choice to play Mickey in “Rocky” but refused the role because he would have to audition.

5. Lee J. Cobb appeared in five Oscar® Best Picture nominees: The Song of Bernadette (1943), On the Waterfront (1954), 12 Angry Men (1957), How the West Was Won (1962) and The Exorcist (1973), with On the Waterfront winning in 1954.

Check out Lee J. Cobb’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

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19 thoughts on “Lee J. Cobb Movies”

  1. I saw 17 including top 7 and 12 of top 18. 10s and favorites: song of Bernadette, 12 angry men, how the west was won, man in the grey flannel suit.10s not favorites the exorcist, on the waterfront three faces of eve. 9 not favorite the exodus. hidden gems: men of boys town a rare 8 and favorite. our man flint 8, in like flint 8 (I love Coburn especially in the presidents analyst). i did not like anna and the king due to rex Harrison portrayal of king.

    Reply

  2. HI STEVE: Hope you are enjoying your break from video creations. Good to see you taking time out from it and from watching Dire Hard, Bad Santa and Black Christmas to throw us a few comments. I am always interested in your thoughts given your exceptional overview of the movie scene.

    When Olivier proved unavailable and Mr Mumbles was the 2nd choice, the top brass at Paramount were so resistant to hiring the Great Mumbler that all sorts of crazy names were thrown into the hat so in that sense Lee J was maybe one of the better suggestions as he had at least already played gangster chiefs in the likes of On the Waterfront and 1958’s Party Girl in which Lee J ordered John Ireland to throw acid round The Cowboy of the century.

    “Brainstorming” meetings over casting were a regular thing in Old Hollywood with usually most of the suggestions being rejected. The famous example is of course Louis B Mayer when one of his underlings suggested Reagan for US President in a forthcoming political drama, thumping the table and yelling “No! No! No! Jimmy Stewart for President: Ronnie for friend!” With all due respect to my Jimmy history would suggest that Louis B got it wrong on that occasion.

    Neither Lee J nor Ernest Borgnine, who was also suggested – he had made 1960’s Pay or Die about The Mafia- would have had the star power to carry the Godpop vehicle; but oddly enough there was a guy who most likely would have had the presence required [see The Leopard for example] who claimed in an interview that I saw that he had wanted the role, but who was never offered it even when the search for a Don Corleone had become frantic: Burt Lancaster.

    Nevertheless for all his limitations as a star Lee J did well financially out of the movies with a credited net worth of $18 million in today’s money when he died in 1976. That may seem small compared with the $half-billion fortunes made by the likes of DeNiro, Cruise and Hanks; but according to the Celebrity Net Worth site the average salary of an American movie performer today is $52,250 which is reportedly about 6,750 dollars less that the average American generally earns each year. In short The Work Horse is probably richer than the average movie star.

    Reply

    1. Hey Bob….good information on the casting of Don Corleone. In another universe…Larry Oliver is best known for his role in The Godfather. Good stats on Cobb’s net worth and average salary for actors…..as a teacher…I am about where the actors are….thank goodness my other careers paid and pay better…lol. Good stuff.

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  3. When I was young I knew Lee J. Cobb best as Derek Flint’s boss in the two Flint spy spoofs, and as Lt. Kinderman in The Exorcist. I didn’t see On the Waterfront and 12 Angry Men until the early 1980s when I binged on as many highly rated classics as I could find.

    I’ve seen 15 of the 50 movies listed here, less than I thought. Favorites are – On the Waterfront, Our Man Flint, In Like Flint, How the West Was Won, Mackennas Gold and The Exorcist.

    Top rated I haven’t seen include – Three Faces of Eve and Come Blow Your Horn.

    Looking at Bob’s post – Lee J. Cobb as The Godfather? It wouldn’t have worked, and Olivier would have been ridiculed. I think Coppola picked the right man for the job.

    Nice work Bruce. Vote Up!

    Reply

    1. Hey Steve. Thanks for checking out our Lee J. Cobb page. Interesting that Cobb’s role in the Flint movies is how you knew him when you were a “youngin'”. The Exorcist is easily his most successful box office movie….I liked his part in that movie. I like you did not see his classics…On The Waterfront and 12 Angry Men until I was older and wiser. Tally counts. Flora leading the way with 25, followed by you and me at 15 and Laurent at 14. As for your favorites….I like them all….glad to see MacKenna’s Gold getting some love….that is an underrated western for sure. I have not seen Come Blow Your Horn…..but I have seen Three Faces Of Eve…..that one is a good movie….but has not aged well…..granted Woodward’s Oscar winning performance has withstood the test of time. The Godfather casting is filled with many wonderful stories….like you….I think Coppola picked the right man for the job. Good stuff.

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      1. Spot on McKenna’s Gold,it is a great western.The late 1960’s was a great time for what I would call ‘realistic” westerns ( for me,better character development).

        I would include “The Professionals”, “Butch Cassidy”,and “The Wild Bunch” in that category.

        Reply

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