Obscure Black C-List Actors: Bill Cobbs

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Obscure Black C-List Actors: Bill Cobbs

Thembi Ford 22 June 2007 5 Comments

Bill Cobbs specializes in playing “the old black dude” and has over 100 television and film credits to his name. He was the old black dude in single episodes of over 30 television shows, including Lost, My Wife and Kids, The West Wing, NYPD Blue, JAG, and Star Trek Enterprise. My favorite appearances of his were an episode of The Sopranos where he played a proud old black dude and an episode Six Feet Under where he played a proud AND stubborn old black dude. He was a recurring old black dude on The Drew Carey Show, The Michael Richards Show, and Kate & Allie. Bill Cobbs was also in the movies Sunshine State, Trading Places, and New Jack City, where he was the old black dude who shot Nino Brown. He’s still alive and kickin‘ at 72. Good black don’t crack y’all.

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Julian said:

I don’t know whether to praise the rigor with which Thembi approaches her novel brand of black pop culture anthropology — the excavation and rescue of faces and voices which an American mainstream would prefer kept wedged underfoot — or REBUKE IT IN THE NAME…

# 22 June 2007 at 11:29 am

Julian said:

in fact, i’m no longer torn: I REBUKE IT IN THE NAME…

# 22 June 2007 at 11:37 am

Thembi said:

IDOLATOR!

# 22 June 2007 at 9:13 pm

jazzfan360 said:

LOVE Bill Cobbs. First saw him as Anthony’s deadbeat dad on Designing Women. He was wonderful in his Sopranos appearance. Even Tony had mad respect for him.

# 27 March 2008 at 9:27 am

Suze said:

Me too, he was brilliant! great site by the way.

# 15 August 2009 at 11:59 am

So what do you think? Please be respectful to other readers!

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Julia Mitchell commented on Monday Afternoon Bonbon osteoporosis is very common among the elderly, calcium and magnesium supplements help a lot in osteoporosis.~'.
Finlay Richardson commented on “What The Eff?” Wednesday: Who Is Corey Johnson aka Musicorey? i always thought that there is some sort of built in mind power in everyone of us.;`;
Aida commented on Michael Jackson and The Five Stages of Grief: Depression I am extremely sad as time goes by. At first I was sort of numb - I was the same when my father was killed - but as time passes, the loss becomes even more apparent to me. Can't exactly put it into words. If I'm being honest - and I know many will not
lilkunta commented on Why We Can’t Have Nothin’: “Freaknik The Musical” and How I Learned to Wear Sensible Shoes QUOTE : " When it comes to the events themselves, I’ll never be convinced of the value of any event where sexuality is at the forefront, especially sexual behaviors that so closely mirror the “slave sexuality” where women put themselves on display, rile up the men, and are then pursued or assaulted because of
Samuel Hernandez commented on Why We Can’t Have Nothin’: “Freaknik The Musical” and How I Learned to Wear Sensible Shoes i watched Everybody Hates Chris and sometimes i find the lead actor a bit distracting.";-
ShonQuayShah commented on Obscure Black C-Lister Redux: Bumper Robinson my trivia powers are working overtime! he was the voice of Funzi in this great production: Tell me Who I am http://www.amazon.com/Tell-Me-Who-Am-Journey/dp/B00000IC5X if you have children under 10, they will LOVE this!!! also, he played the role of "Husband" very well in the PBS version of "The Old Settler" Co-starring with Phylicia Rashad and Debbie Allen. This is a must see!
ShonQuayShah commented on “What The Eff?” Wednesday: The World’s Worst ok, Thembi...i am thru with you, you hear me? DONE. DEAD. OVAH. banola bar? that made me pee in my pants just a bit. i could not take the drive to the eastside in that next vid. could not make it past 35 seconds for Nawhoooey whatever his name is. the Spirit of Truth, while he is a great
DJStylus commented on “What The Eff?” Wednesday: Ripples, Rolls, and Rebellion Beata's really not so bad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13qUbuABPbU

THROWBACK POST!!

Police Sketches of Black Dudes

By Thembi Ford on September 26, 2007

Police sketch artist drawings of black people are notoriously poor and rarely look like anyone in particular. I’m convinced that when asked to describe the suspect, witnesses just describe the last black male they saw, even if they last saw a black male on television. So I did a little Thembi-style experiment by going online and digging up dozens of sketches of black suspects to see just who the strong arm of the law is looking for.

Posted in Not Racist Cuz It's True., Our Shame, What the Eff?, Yipes! | 21 Responses

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