Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2975
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Bill Cobbs represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 48 years in, and Bill is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Bill Cobbs appears in 22 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Bill. Trading Places is the clearest case: a film rated 7.3 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for horror, drama, comedy. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with J.J. Johnson, Shawn Levy, Sam Raimi and others, Bill Cobbs helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Trading Places (1983) as Bartender · Dino Dana: The Movie (2020) as Mr. Hendersen (Uncredited) · The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) as Moses
Career snapshot
Ranked #2975 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
22
1974–2022
Career length
48 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.3
Trading Places
Average Nutevio score
6.5
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.5
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Most frequent director
Shawn Levy
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Shawn Levy
Most common genre
Drama
12 titles
Average runtime
1h 50m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.0
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.8
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1970s
7.1 average MV
The 1970s are where the work and the material meet. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1970s
7.1
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1970s
7.5
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1970s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.
Most productive era
1990s
8 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 6.84 films | 6.56 films | 6.71 film | — | 2.71 film |
| Action | 7.11 film | — | 6.82 films | — | — | — |
| Thriller | 7.11 film | — | 5.72 films | 6.71 film | — | — |
| Comedy | — | 7.31 film | 6.83 films | 6.82 films | 6.52 films | 7.21 film |
| Crime | 7.11 film | 6.51 film | 6.72 films | — | — | — |
| Romance | — | — | 6.33 films | — | — | — |
| Horror | — | — | 5.71 film | — | — | 2.71 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1974The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Man on Platform.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
1983Trading Places
7.3 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2022Caroltyn
The current state of the argument, as Dr. Mason.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
22 of 22 films
as Bartender
Directed by John Landis
as Mr. Hendersen (Uncredited)
Directed by J.J. Johnson
as Reginald
Directed by Shawn Levy
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Bartender
Trading Places (1983)
Performance score7.2
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Bartender gives Bill Cobbs a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Mr. Hendersen (Uncredited)
Dino Dana: The Movie (2020)
Performance score7.1
Dino Dana: The Movie asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Mr. Hendersen (Uncredited) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Orvis
The Color of Money (1986)
Performance score7.1
The Color of Money asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Orvis is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Reginald
Night at the Museum (2006)
Performance score7.0
Night at the Museum asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Reginald is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Bartender
Start here. Trading Places is the clearest statement of what Bill Cobbs does — accessible, 116 minutes, and rated 7.3 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Bill at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
The Color of Money (1986)
A deliberate change of key after Trading Places — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
Keeps the drama register of The Color of Money but asks for a colder reading of it.
Night at the Museum (2006)
Keeps the comedy register of The Hudsucker Proxy but asks for a colder reading of it.
Dino Dana: The Movie (2020)
Keeps the comedy register of Night at the Museum but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Shawn Levy
Director
2 films together
Notably Night at the Museum
Joseph Sargent
Director
1 film together
Notably The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Mike Nichols
Director
1 film together
Notably Silkwood
John Landis
Director
1 film together
Notably Trading Places
Francis Ford Coppola
Director
1 film together
Notably The Cotton Club
Martin Scorsese
Director
1 film together
Notably The Color of Money
Clint Eastwood
Director
1 film together
Notably Bird
Mick Jackson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Bodyguard
Marco Brambilla
Director
1 film together
Notably Demolition Man
Joel Coen
Director
1 film together
Notably The Hudsucker Proxy
Gary Fleder
Director
1 film together
Notably Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
Tom Hanks
Director
1 film together
Notably That Thing You Do!
Forest Whitaker
Director
1 film together
Notably Hope Floats
Danny Cannon
Director
1 film together
Notably I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
Sydney Pollack
Director
1 film together
Notably Random Hearts
Michael Apted
Director
1 film together
Notably Enough
Christopher Guest
Director
1 film together
Notably A Mighty Wind
James Bobin
Director
1 film together
Notably The Muppets
Sam Raimi
Director
1 film together
Notably Oz the Great and Powerful
J.J. Johnson
Director
1 film together
Notably Dino Dana: The Movie
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Shawn Levy
Director
2 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Night at the MuseumJohn Landis
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Trading PlacesJ.J. Johnson
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dino Dana: The MovieJoel Coen
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Hudsucker ProxyJoseph Sargent
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Taking of Pelham One Two ThreeMartin Scorsese
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Color of MoneyMike Nichols
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SilkwoodChristopher Guest
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Mighty WindTom Hanks
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
That Thing You Do!Marco Brambilla
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Demolition ManMick Jackson
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The BodyguardJames Bobin
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The MuppetsMichael Apted
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
EnoughClint Eastwood
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BirdGary Fleder
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Things to Do in Denver When You're DeadFrancis Ford Coppola
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Cotton ClubForest Whitaker
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hope FloatsSam Raimi
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Oz the Great and PowerfulDanny Cannon
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I Still Know What You Did Last SummerSydney Pollack
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Random HeartsSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Trading Places
as Bartender
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Bird
as Dr. Caulfield
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Trading Places
as Bartender
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
as Man on Platform
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Trading Places
as Bartender
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Bill Cobbs has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
48 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Drama Legend
Awarded
12 catalogue titles in drama, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
The Hudsucker Proxy
as Moses
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
as Man on Platform
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Random Hearts
as Marvin
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
as Estes
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
as Man on Platform
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Demolition Man
as Zachary Lamb - Aged
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
That Thing You Do!
as Del Paxton
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
as Estes
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Leonardo DiCaprio
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Robert De Niro
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Al Pacino
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: family and comedy
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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