Bill Cobbs, Beloved Black Actor, Has Died At Age 90

Source: Tim Boyles / Getty

Some actors have been around for so long that we can oftentimes, foolishly at that, assume they’ll always be around. That seemed to be the case when it came to veteran actor Bill Cobbs — his face was one that many cinephiles have become familiar with ever since his career began in the mid 1970s.

Unfortunately for us, reality came crashing down entirely too soon this week with news of his death yesterday (June 26) at the age of 90 years old.

Bill Cobbs, an actor who appeared in over 120 television shows and movies since the 1970s, has died. He was 90. pic.twitter.com/F3f2wYzjL2

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) June 26, 2024

More information below via TMZ on the passing of Bill Cobbs, who ironically hit his milestone 90th birthday just over a week ago on June 16:

“Bill died Tuesday night at his home in Riverside, CA … according to his publicist, Chuck I. Jones.

With an acting career spanning all the way back to the 1970s, Bill has nearly 200 movie and TV show credits to his name.

Some highlights … he played Devaney, one of Whitney Houston’s staffers, in ‘The Bodyguard,’ Louisiana Slim in 1979’s ‘The Hitter,’ was Walter in 1984’s ‘The Brother from Another Planet,’ and had a role as Reginald in 2006’s ‘Night at the Museum.’”

Bill was also in 2013’s ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ as Master Tinker and played Arthur Chaney in 1997’s ‘Air Bud.’”

Of course, those movie titles only begin to scratch the surface of Cobbs’ illustrious career. While the young kiddos might know him more from his performance in the Daytime Emmy-winning series Dino Dana, and millennials might remember him as an ill-fated shaman in the 1998 slasher I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, this is a man that has literally worked in Hollywood every single year of his life since 1974 — everybody in your family has a favorite character played by Bill Cobbs.

He will truly be missed.