Veteran actor takes over for Ossie Davis on ‘Retirement’

Actor Bill Cobbs is ready to tackle one of his toughest roles: filling in for the late Ossie Davis.

Cobbs has begun work as Davis’ replacement in the movie “Retirement,” a comedy about an elderly group of friends, also starring Rip Torn, Peter Falk and George Segal. The movie may be released this fall.

Davis, 87, died Feb. 4 in his Miami Beach hotel room, apparently of natural causes. He’d been working on “Retirement” for about four days before his death. The scenes he appeared in are being reshot.

“This is a very painful thing, to take over for somebody that I respect the way I do,” Cobbs, a longtime character actor, told WSVN-TV during a break Thursday. “I’m honored to do this. I want to do a good job.”

Davis wrote, acted, directed and produced for the theater and Hollywood during a career that began in 1939. He also was a champion of the civil rights movement, participated in the march on Washington and delivered the eulogy for Malcolm X.

“Ossie Davis was a man with great integrity, great honor and someone who I feel has done us all a great service just by being on the Earth,” Cobbs said.

Crew members still have a difficult time dealing with Davis’ loss, said “Retirement” director Charlie Picerni.

“The hardest challenge was getting over Ossie, and I think the crew still has their moments when they think of him,” Picerni said. “I will, always. I want to dedicate the film to Ossie.”