For other persons of the same name, see Brimley. Allen Wilford Brimley (born September 27, 1934) is an American actor.
Biography
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. His first acting roles, in the 1960s, were as a riding extra in Westerns and as a stunt man.[1] At that time he was known as Anthony (Tony) Brimley.
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.
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 1993 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." These commercials were parodied on the short-lived Fox sketch comedy show The Ben Stiller Show, portraying him as testy and mentally unbalanced. He also made an appearance on Seinfeld as the United States Postmaster General, a takeoff on his role of U.S. Assistant Attorney General in Absence of Malice.
Brimley has diabetes and serves as the spokesperson for the diabetes testing-supplies company Liberty Medical. Commercials run frequently on daytime TV and Brimley has gained notoriety for his distinct pronunciation of the disease: "di-a-beet-us". Brimley admonishes viewers to "check their blood sugar, and check it often".
Personal life
Brimley was born in Salt Lake City to a father who worked as a real estate broker.[2] He has three sons with wife Lynne Brimley: Bill Brimley, Jim Brimley and John Brimley.
Outside of film and advertisements, Brimley is also known as 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. He has campaigned in Arizona and New Mexico against laws banning cockfighting.[3] Brimley enjoys playing poker and has played in the World Series of Poker Main Event.[4] Brimley has lent his support to John McCain in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.[5] In the days leading up to his selection of Vice President, McCain jokingly stated that he would pick Brimley.[6] "He's a former Marine and great guy and he's older than I am, so that might work," McCain said.
Brimley in popular culture
Brimley's distinctive appearance and manner of speech have been repeatedly parodied over the years including on Saturday Night Live, The Colbert Report, Mike & Mike in the Morning, The Ben Stiller Show, Imus in the Morning, Family Guy, Royal Canadian Air Farce, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, Monster, and I Can Has Cheezburger?[7]
In 2008 a Liberty Medical commercial (starring Wilford Brimley) interrupted the supposedly commercial free and much anticipated trailer for Gears of War 2 during the E3 Microsoft press conference on G4TV.
Filmography
References
External links
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