Celebrity Nooz: Randall Cobb

Randall "Tex" Cobb (Actor) - Raising Arizona

Updated: 3/02/21

Name: Randall Cobb

Birth Name: Randall Craig Cobb

Born: May 7, 1950 in Bridge City, Texas, USA

Nickname: Tex

Claim To Fame: Randall "Tex" Cobb is an American actor, martial artist, and former professional boxer who competed in the heavyweight division. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, usually appearing as a villain or henchman. His most memorable role was as Leonard Smalls in the Coen brothers film Raising Arizona.

Family Life: Cobb is married to Janet Denney Cobb. He was married to his first wife Sharon from 1986 to 1997; they have two children Joshua Cobb and Bo Cobb.

Info: Cobb's the son of Norma Grace and Williard Glynn Cobb, a factory foreman.

He was raised in Abilene, Texas, and attended Abilene High School, where he played on the football team.

Cobb later studied at Abilene Christian University, but dropped out at the age of 19, and began karate training.

In 1975, after earning his black belt, he took up kickboxing, fighting in an era when only full contact rules were used in the United States. He won his first nine matches, all knockouts.

Cobb went on to professional boxing two years later.

He was ranked in the global top 10 heavyweight boxers by the Ring (in 1981 and 1982) and BoxRec (in 1982).

On November 26, 1982, at Houston's Astrodome, Cobb was defeated in a unanimous decision by Holmes, who won all 15 rounds on two of three scorecards. The bloody one-sidedness of the fight, which came 13 days after the bout between Ray Mancini and Duk Koo Kim that led to Kim's death four days later due to brain trauma, horrified sportscaster Howard Cosell so much that he vowed never to cover another professional match, which Cobb jokingly referred to as his "gift to the sport of boxing." When prodded further regarding Cosell's remarks, Cobb observed, "Hey, if it gets him to stop broadcasting NFL games, I'll go play football for a week, too!"

Cobb's pro-boxer record totaled 52 fights, 43 wins (36 by KO), 7 losses (1 by KO), 1 draw and 1 No Contest. The NC was originally a TKO win for Cobb but the results were changed when both fighters tested positive for cocaine. His last pro fight in 1993 against Andre Smiley; Cobb won by TKO during the second round.

In January 2008, at age 57, Cobb graduated magna cum laude from Temple University with a bachelor's degree from the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management.

Trivia: Widely considered to possess one of the greatest chins of all time.

Cobb caught the attention of Hollywood and was chosen to play Jon Voight's opponent in the remake of The Champ (1979).

Was considered for the role of Non in Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980). The role went to Jack O'Halloran, also a boxer.

In 1992, he appeared in Vince Gill's music video for his song Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away.

One of his more memorable roles is the menacing outlaw biker/bounty hunter Leonard Smalls in the 1987 Coen Brothers film Raising Arizona. Joel Coen later described Cobb as difficult to work with: "he's less an actor than a force of nature".

Where Are They Now: It would appear that Cobb has retired from acting; since his last screen appearance was back in 2001 on the hit Chuck Norris series Walker, Texas Ranger. I've always enjoyed when Cobb popped up in movies and TV series. I hope to see him have a notable comeback.

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