Cockrum received an
M.A. in Dramatic Arts from
Eastern Michigan University. Cockrum's first character role was in
John Hughes's 1989 comedy
Uncle Buck. He then went on to star in
Extreme Movie,
Rebound,
Hail, Caesar!; and as Elmer Jackson in
Gangster Squad, Detective Tom Farrell in
The Glimmer Man, Mr. Sunday in
Angels in Stardust and Uncle Billy in
Downeast. Cockrum has also appeared on stage. For his first performance in
Tom Stoppard's play
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Cockram received the
Joseph Jefferson Award. He performed in the original 2006 Broadway play
Frost/Nixon by British playwright
Peter Morgan; and regional productions such as
Dead End by
Sidney Kingsley at the
Ahmanson Theatrein Los Angeles,
Lincoln Park Zoo by Richard Strand at
Geva Theatre,
Amadeus by
Peter Shaffer,
Private Lives by
Noël Coward, and
Crimes of the Heart by
Beth Henley at Snowmass Repertory in Colorado. In a June 2021 interview with Brett Allan, Cockrum stated that he has been a member of
SAG-AFTRA for forty years. He is also a member of the
A.E.A. and the
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Cockrum is the father of actress Stella Cockrum. == Partial Filmography ==