Wendell Pierce and Wesley Snipes lead tributes to Bill Cobbs

Wendell Pierce and Wesley Snipes have paid tribute to late character actor Bill Cobbs.

The Bodyguard and Night at the Museum actor passed away on Tuesday evening in California surrounded by his family. He was 90.

Reacting to his death on social media, The Wire actor Pierce wrote a lengthy statement praising his I'll Fly Away and The Gregory Hines Show co-star.

"A father figure, a griot, an iconic artist, that mentored me by the way he led his life as an actor. He played my father twice: in I'll Fly Away & The Gregory Hines Show. Each time imparting wisdom with a word of encouragement," he wrote on X/Twitter, before going on to praise Cobbs' contribution to Black theatre in Cleveland, Ohio and New York.

"To honor Bill and his memory, I will dedicate myself to creating work he would be proud of. Rest in Peace Bill Cobbs. God Bless."

Meanwhile, Blade star Snipes posted a video clip of Cobbs' character shooting him outside a courtroom in the 1991 movie New Jack City. He simply captioned the post, "Rest in Power King."

Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph also paid tribute on X, posting a photo of Cobbs and writing, "Emmy winner, working actor and wonderful human being, Bill Cobbs (has) transitioned to act on a higher stage."

Cobbs is perhaps best known for playing Whitney Houston's manager Bill Devaney in the 1992 film The Bodyguard and portraying security guard Reginald in the Night at the Museum movies.

With more than 200 film and TV credits to his name, Cobbs also appeared in episodes of The West Wing, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, CSI and Star Trek: Enterprise and films such as The Hudsucker Proxy, Oz the Great and Powerful, Demolition Man and Air Bud.