Edmund Cobb

Biography

Edmund Fessenden Cobb, son of William Henry Cobb (1860-1909) and Eddie Ross (1862-1945), was the grandson of Edmund Gibson Ross (1826-1907, Governor of the Territory of New Mexico and the Senator from Kansas credited by many as having cast the deciding vote in the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson). Edmund F. Cobb's parents ran a photography studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and some photographs of Edmund F. Cobb dressed as a cowboy (one dated December 1911), attired in a Civil War-era soldier's uniform, and standing next to a 1920s/1930s-style automobile are in the photo archive collection at the Museum of New Mexico, Palace of the Governors. Edmund Fessenden Cobb had two sisters, Susan Ross Cobb (1894-1987) and Daphne M. Cobb (1898-1928), and a brother, Wilfred B. Cobb (1901-1982). A book by Kalton C. Lahue, Winners of the West: Sagebrush Heroes of the Silent Screen (1970), pages 53-58, includes a very brief overview of some of the companies, directors, movies/serials, and types of roles that shaped Edmund's career from 1910 to 1965. Edmund F. Cobb married first wife, Helen Hayes, daughter of Charles Thomas Hayes and Martha Belle Marshall, on October 26, 1914, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and their daughter, Eddie Marie Cobb (1915-1969), was born in Illinois. In 1920, Edmund and Helen were living in Denver, Colorado, and listed their occupations as "Actor" and "Actress," in "Motion Pictures." Edmund Cobb and Helen Hayes appeared together in A Rodeo Mixup (1924) and Riders of the Range (1923). Edmund and Helen divorced when their daughter was about 10 or 12 years old, and both remarried. Helen Marie Hayes married her second husband, Edwin Jackson (1898-1972), on June 14, 1930, in Los Angeles County, California, as his second wife. Helen died about 1932. Edmund Fessenden Cobb married his second wife, Vivian Marie Winter, daughter of Marshall Banker Winter and Henrietta K. Hollenbeck, on July 24, 1934, in Los Angeles County, California. Vivian Marie Winter was born January 16, 1894, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and died in Woodland Hills, California, at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital, on July 26, 1974. Edmund Fessenden Cobb died at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital, as well, just twenty days after Vivian, on August 15, 1974. Note: Edmund Cobb's sister, Susan Ross (Cobb) Beyer, stated that "Eddie" was the correct spelling of their mother's name even though some had suggested "a more feminine version" (Source: The Albuquerque Tribune, issue of March 20, 1974, page B-1, columns 1-4, Accent on Lively Living: Past Comes Alive: Clarence Beyers reminisce--wonder where time went). Several years ago, a curator familiar with the family had indicated that Eddie Ross's name was actually "Edwinna," but the article referencing Eddie's daughter, Susan, seems to argue against that being the case.