Detailed Biography

Allen Wilford Brimley , better known as Wilford Brimley, is an American actor. He has appeared in such films as The China Syndrome and Cocoon. Brimley is also known for appearing in television commercials, including ads for Quaker Oats and Liberty Medical.

Personal life

Brimley was born in Salt Lake City, Utah where his father worked as a real estate broker.

Diagnosed with diabetes in 1979, Brimley began working to raise awareness of the disease. The American Diabetes Association honored Brimley in 2008 with an award to recognize his lifetime of service in this venerable cause. Brimley has been active visiting Veterans Administration hospitals and communities to advise patients on how to manage their diseases. The ADA presented the award to the actor at the Port St. Lucie headquarters of Liberty Medical on December 19, 2008.

Wilford has been known to look old for his age. This is due to his recently acquired type two diabetes. Wilford campaigns for Liberty Medical, a company that helps others like him manage their diabetes by sending testing supplies right to their door, with no charge for shipping. Helping diabetics do what Wilford calls "living a better life".

Brimley is an activist, paying from his own funds for ads to have Utah allow horse-race gambling, and he was actively opposed to the banning of cockfighting in New Mexico. Brimley enjoys playing poker and has played in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Brimley lent his support to John McCain in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. In the days leading up to his selection for vice president, McCain stated that he would pick Brimley: "He's a former Marine and great guy and he's older than I am, so that might work."

Career

Before his career in acting, Brimley worked as a ranch hand, wrangler, blacksmith, and a bodyguard for Howard Hughes. He then began shoeing horses for film and television. He began acting in the 1960s as a riding extra in Westerns and as a stunt man at the urging of his friend, actor Robert Duvall.

Brimley became famous later in life for appearing in such films as The Hotel New Hampshire, John Carpenter's The Thing, and Cocoon. In 2001, he starred in the Turner Network Television film Crossfire Trail with Tom Selleck. He had an important role in The China Syndrome. He often plays a gruff or stodgy old man, notably on the 1980s drama series Our House. His first characterization was in Absence of Malice, in which he played a small but key role as a curmudgeonly, outspoken James A. Wells, Assistant U.S. Attorney General. He expanded on this characterization in The Natural, as the world-weary manager of a hapless baseball team. He is known to Star Wars fans as Noa Briqualon in George Lucas' 1985 made-for-TV movie Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.

Brimley was cast in the 1983 film Tender Mercies due to the urging of his good friend Robert Duvall, who was not getting along well with director Bruce Beresford and wanted "somebody down here that's on my side, somebody that I can relate to." Beresford felt Brimley was too old for the part, but eventually agreed to the casting. Brimley, like Duvall, clashed with the director; during one instance when Beresford tried to advise Brimley on how Harry would behave, Duvall recalled Brimley responding: "Now look, let me tell you something, I'm Harry. Harry's not over there, Harry's not over here. Until you fire me or get another actor, I'm Harry, and whatever I do is fine 'cause I'm Harry."

In a change from his "good guy" roles such as those in Our House, he played William Devasher, the ominous head of security for Bendini, Lambert & Locke in the Tom Cruise film The Firm , based on the novel by John Grisham. Brimley has frequently appeared in commercials, notably a series of commercials he did for Quaker Oats Oatmeal throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The Quaker commercials were famous for their slogan: "It's the right thing to do and the tasty way to do it."