R.I.P. Bill Cobbs: ‘The Bodyguard’ And ‘Demolition Man’ Actor Dead At 90

Actor Bill Cobbs, whose work included The Bodyguard and Demolition Man, died on Tuesday (June 25). He was 90.

According to CNN, the late actor’s brother, Thomas G. Cobbs, posted the news on Facebook on Wednesday morning (June 26), noting that Bill “passed away peacefully at his home in California.”

Bill was born in Cleveland on June 16, 1934. Following his high school graduation, he served eight years as an Air Force radar technician, per the Associated Press. According to the outlet, he also worked as a car salesman prior to pursuing an acting career. His performance in Ride a Black Horse at the Negro Ensemble Company in New York marked his first professional acting role, per Variety.

With almost 200 IMDb credits, Cobbs appeared in numerous notable projects since his onscreen career began in the 1970s. He starred in television shows like The Slap Maxwell Story, which aired its one and only season from 1987 until 1988, and also held roles on I’ll Fly Away, The Gregory Hines Show, The Michael Richards Show, The Others and Go On.

His other TV appearances include One Life to Live, Sesame Street, L.A. Law, Walker, Texas Ranger, The Sopranos, The West Wing, The Drew Carey Show, One Tree Hill and The Carmichael Show.

Bill’s film career included a role alongside Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard in 1992. The following year, he acted in Demolition Man. Other notable film credits of his include The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Air Bud (1997), Night at the Museum (2006), The Muppets (2011), Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014).

Wendell Pierce, who played Cobbs’ onscreen son in both I’ll Fly Away and The Gregory Hines Show, paid tribute to him on X, writing, in part, “A father figure, a griot, an iconic artist, that mentored me by the way he led his life as an actor.” Among the others who have since mourned Cobbs’ passing on X are Wesley Snipes, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Damon Gupton.