Bill died Tuesday at his home in the Inland Empire in CA ... according to his publicist, Chuck I. Jones.

With an acting career spanning all the way back to the 1970s, Bill has nearly 200 movie and TV show credits to his name.

Some highlights ... he played Devaney, one of Whitney Houston's staffers, in "The Bodyguard," Louisiana Slim in 1979's "The Hitter," was Walter in 1984's "The Brother from Another Planet," and had a role as Reginald in 2006's "Night at the Museum."

Bill was also in 2013's "Oz the Great and Powerful" as Master Tinker and played Arthur Chaney in 1997's "Air Bud."

He made his feature film debut in 1974 with a part in "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three."

His TV credits include a recurring role as Lewis Coleman on "I'll Fly Away" in the early 1990s ... plus guest appearances on "Walker, Texas Ranger" and "The Sopranos" ... just to name a few.

Bill even won a Daytime Emmy Award ... taking home the hardware for Outstanding Limited Performance in a Daytime Program for his work on the kids show "Dino Dana."

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Bill served in the Air Force for 8 years and worked at IBM and as a car salesman before relocating to New York to find work as an actor.

Bill also acted in theater productions and played the drums.

He was 90 and had just reached that milestone birthday on June 16th, and his brother Thomas Cobbs posted says the whole family was able to celebrate with him ... calling Bill a "beloved partner, big brother, uncle, surrogate parent, godfather and friend."

Thomas tells us Bill was recently battling pneumonia, which is the suspected cause of death.

He added, "As a family we are comforted knowing Bill has found peace and eternal rest with his Heavenly Father. We ask for your prayers and encouragement during this time."