He drifted into movie work during the 1960s, riding in such films as “True Grit,” and appearing in TV series such as “Gunsmoke." I was overjoyed making those scenes and especially working with Wilford Brimley.”Ī Utah native who grew up around horses, Brimley spent two decades traveling around the West and working at ranches and race tracks.
John Woo, who directed Brimley as Uncle Douvee in 1993's “Hard Target,” told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018 that the part was “the main great thing from the film. In 1993’s John Grisham adaptation “The Firm,” Brimley starred opposite Tom Cruise as a tough-nosed investigator who deployed ruthless tactics to keep his law firm’s secrets safe. Though never nominated for an Oscar or Emmy Award, Brimley amassed an impressive list of credits. He was one of a kind.”īarbara Hershey, who met Brimley on 1995's “Last of the Dogmen,” called him “a wonderful man and actor. I’m sad that I will no longer get to hear my friend’s wonderful stories. He had a tough exterior and a tender heart. “He said what he meant and he meant what he said. “Wilford Brimley was a man you could trust,” Bensky said in a statement. The 1985 Ron Howard film won two Oscars, including a supporting actor honor for Don Ameche.īrimley also starred in “Cocoon: The Return,” a 1988 sequel.įor years he was pitchman for Quaker Oats and in recent years appeared in a series of diabetes spots that turned him at one point into a social media sensation. He also worked with Redford in “Brubaker” and “The Electric Horseman.”īrimley's best-known work was in “Cocoon,” in which he was part of a group of seniors who discover an alien pod that rejuvenates them. The mustached Brimley was a familiar face for a number of roles, often playing characters like his grizzled baseball manager in “The Natural” opposite Robert Redford's bad-luck phenomenon. He was on dialysis and had several medical ailments, she said. He was 85.īrimley’s manager Lynda Bensky said the actor died Saturday morning in a Utah hospital.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Wilford Brimley, who worked his way up from movie stunt rider to an indelible character actor who brought gruff charm, and sometimes menace, to a range of films that included “Cocoon,” “The Natural” and “The Firm,” has died.
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