# Bill Cobbs
**Bill Cobbs** (born Wilbert Francisco Cobbs; June 16, 1934 – June 25, 2024) was an American character actor who accumulated nearly 200 film and television credits over a five-decade career, known for roles in *The Bodyguard*, *Night at the Museum*, *Air Bud*, *Demolition Man*, and *[The Hudsucker Proxy](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hudsucker-proxy)*.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor) He died on June 25, 2024, at his home in [Riverside, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/riverside-california), at age 90.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Wilbert Francisco Cobbs[2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor) |
| Born | June 16, 1934, Cleveland, Ohio[2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor) |
| Died | June 25, 2024, Riverside, California, age 90; publicist Chuck I. Jones said natural causes[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies) |
| Career span | Five decades, nearly 200 film and TV credits[2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor) |
| Film debut | *The Taking of Pelham One Two Three* (1974)[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies) |
| Major award | Daytime Emmy Award, 2020, for Mr. Hendrickson on *Dino Dana*[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies) |
| Signature roles | Bill Devaney in *The Bodyguard*; Moses the Clock Man in *The Hudsucker Proxy*; coach Arthur Chaney in *Air Bud*; Reginald in *Night at the Museum*[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/wendell-pierce-california-ben-stiller-robin-williams-kevin-costner-b2569691.html) |
## Early life and path to acting
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Cobbs grew up there with parents who worked hard and taught him to be self-reliant and humble.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167850) After graduating from high school, he served eight years in the U.S. Air Force as a radar technician.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor) He then worked in office products at IBM and sold cars in [Cleveland](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleveland).[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167850)
His entry into acting came through a customer. One day, while selling cars, a customer asked him if he wanted to act in a play.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor) He made his stage debut in 1969 in Cleveland, and in 1970, at age 36, he left for New York to seek work as an actor.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167850) [In New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/in-new-york) he joined the [Negro Ensemble Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/negro-ensemble-company), appearing alongside [Ossie Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/ossie-davis) and Ruby Dee.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor) His first professional acting role was in *Ride a Black Horse* at the Negro Ensemble Company.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167850) He turned down a job in the NBC sales department to keep time free for auditions, supporting himself by driving a cab, repairing office equipment, selling toys, and performing odd jobs.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167850)
Cobbs later said acting resonated with him as a way to express the human condition, particularly during the civil rights movement in the late 1960s. "To be an artist, you have to have a sense of giving," he said in a 2004 interview. "Art is somewhat of a prayer, isn't it? We respond to what we see around us and what we feel and how things affect us mentally and spiritually."[2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor)
## Stage and screen career
Cobbs made his feature film debut in the 1974 crime thriller *The Taking of Pelham One Two Three*, in a fleeting role.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor) His first television credit was in *Vegetable Soup* (1975), a New York public television educational series.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167850) On Broadway he debuted in *The First Breeze of Summer* and later appeared in [Athol Fugard](https://www.edgepedia.org/athol-fugard)'s *Master Harold...and the Boys* and in *Ma Rainey's Black Bottom*.[5](https://www.tvinsider.com/1141553/bill-cobbs-dead-demolition-man-bodyguard-air-bud/)
**Television work.** Cobbs was a regular presence on television from the late 1970s onward, with an early small role in *King* (NBC, 1978).[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bill-cobbs/) He was a regular on the short-lived ABC sitcoms *The 'Slap' Maxwell Story* (1988) and *Homeroom* (1989), and made guest appearances on series including *Designing Women*, *L.A. Law*, *Walker, Texas Ranger*, *The Sopranos*, *The West Wing*, *Six Feet Under*, *Sesame Street*, and *Good Times*.[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bill-cobbs/) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor) His best-remembered television role was Lewis Coleman, the strong traditional father of [Regina Taylor](https://www.edgepedia.org/regina-taylor)'s character on the acclaimed NBC drama *I'll Fly Away* (1991–93), a part he reprised in the 1993 PBS TV-movie conclusion *I'll Fly Away: Then and Now*.[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bill-cobbs/) He also played the father on *The Gregory Hines Show* (1997–99).[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/06/26/bill-cobbs-actor-dies/)
**Film roles.** Cobbs appeared in more than 20 features from the late 1970s onward, including *The Brother from Another Planet* and *The Cotton Club* (both 1984), *The Color of Money* (1986), *Bird* (1988), and *New Jack City* (1991).[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bill-cobbs/) He played [Whitney Houston](https://www.edgepedia.org/whitney-houston)'s manager Bill Devaney in *The Bodyguard* (1992) opposite [Kevin Costner](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-costner), an old partner of [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvester-stallone)'s defrosted cop in *Demolition Man* (1993), Moses the Clock Man in the Coen brothers' *The Hudsucker Proxy* (1994), coach Arthur Chaney in *Air Bud* (1997), the security guard Reginald in *Night at the Museum* (2006), and Master Tinker in *Oz the Great and Powerful* (2013).[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/wendell-pierce-california-ben-stiller-robin-williams-kevin-costner-b2569691.html) • [6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bill-cobbs/) In *Night at the Museum* he was part of a trio of antagonistic security guards alongside Mickey Rooney and Dick Van Dyke.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies)
The largest share of his screen work came between his 50s and 70s, as filmmakers and television producers turned to him repeatedly to give small but pivotal parts a wizened, worn soulfulness.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/06/26/bill-cobbs-actor-dies/) Award-worthy leading roles seldom came his way; rather, he was a recognizable, unforgettable ordinary-guy figure whose presence stuck with viewers no matter how brief his appearances were.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor)
## Awards
Cobbs earned a 2020 Daytime Emmy in the limited performance in a daytime program category for playing Mr. Hendrickson on the Canadian educational children's show *Dino Dana*.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor) He won Best Actor at the Trenton Film Festival for his role in *The Final Patient* (2005).[8](https://obits.cleveland.com/news/bill-cobbs-1934-2024-actor-known-for-night-at-the-museum)
## Death and tributes
Cobbs died on June 25, 2024, at his home in Riverside, California, in the [Inland Empire](https://www.edgepedia.org/inland-empire) region east of Los Angeles.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies) • [7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/06/26/bill-cobbs-actor-dies/) His brother, Thomas G. Cobbs, announced the death on Facebook, writing that Bill had recently celebrated his 90th birthday surrounded by loved ones.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies) His publicist, Chuck I. Jones, said the actor had died of natural causes.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies)
Fellow actors paid tribute. Tony Award-winning actor [Wendell Pierce](https://www.edgepedia.org/wendell-pierce), Cobbs's co-star in *I'll Fly Away* and *The Gregory Hines Show*, called him "a father figure, a griot, an iconic artist" who mentored him by the way he led his life as an actor.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies) [Sheryl Lee Ralph](https://www.edgepedia.org/sheryl-lee-ralph), a series regular on *Abbott Elementary*, wrote on X that Cobbs was an "Emmy winner, working actor and wonderful human being."[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies)
## References
1. [Bill Cobbs, character actor known for 'Demolition Man' and 'The Bodyguard,' dies at 90, Los Angeles Times (June 26, 2024)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-26/bill-cobbs-character-actor-air-bud-the-bodyguard-dies)
2. [Bill Cobbs, Night at the Museum, The Bodyguard and Air Bud actor, dies aged 90, The Guardian (June 26, 2024)](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/26/bill-cobbs-dead-night-at-the-museum-air-bud-bodyguard-actor)
3. [Night At The Museum and The Bodyguard actor Bill Cobbs dies age 90, The Independent (June 27, 2024)](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/wendell-pierce-california-ben-stiller-robin-williams-kevin-costner-b2569691.html)
4. [Bill Cobbs, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167850)
5. [Bill Cobbs Dies: 'Demolition Man' & 'Greenleaf' Star Was 90, TV Insider (June 26, 2024)](https://www.tvinsider.com/1141553/bill-cobbs-dead-demolition-man-bodyguard-air-bud/)
6. [Bill Cobbs, TV Insider profile](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bill-cobbs/)
7. [Bill Cobbs, actor who built career on poignant older roles, dies at 90, The Washington Post (June 26, 2024)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/06/26/bill-cobbs-actor-dies/)
8. [Bill Cobbs (1934–2024), actor known for Night at the Museum, Legacy.com (June 27, 2024)](https://obits.cleveland.com/news/bill-cobbs-1934-2024-actor-known-for-night-at-the-museum)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Character actors, B-movie and genre-circuit performers › American performers, recent era*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license