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|birthplace=[[Salt Lake City, Utah]], [[United States]]
|birthplace=[[Salt Lake City, Utah]], [[United States]]
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'''Allen Wilford Brimley''' (born September 27, 1934 in [[Salt Lake City, Utah]]) is an American [[actor]]. Active since 1968, he has appeared in such films as ''[[The China Syndrome]]'' and ''[[Cocoon (film)|Cocoon]]''. Brimley is also known for appearing in [[television commercial]]s, including ads for [[Quaker Oats]] and (starting in 2001) for [[Liberty Medical]], a medical company which provides supplies for [[diabetic]]s.
'''Allen Wilford Brimley''' (born September 27, 1934 in [[Salt Lake City, Utah]]) has diabeetus.

==Biography==
===Personal life===
Brimley was born in [[Salt Lake City]] to a father who worked as a [[real estate]] broker.<ref>[http://www.filmreference.com/film/47/Wilford-Brimley.html Wilford Brimley Biography (1934-)]</ref> He has three sons with wife Lynne Brimley: Jim Brimley, John Brimley, and Bill Brimley.

Diagnosed with diabetes in 1979, The American Diabetes Association (ADA) honored Brimley with an award to recognize his lifetime of service in raising awareness about diabetes. Brimley has been active visiting Veterans Administration hospitals and communities to advise patients on how to manage their disease. The ADA presented the award to the actor at the Port St. Lucie headquarters of Liberty Medical on December 19, 2008. <ref> [http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/dec/19/actor-wilford-brimley-surprised-award-american-dia/]</ref>

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]]. <ref>[http://www.all-creatures.org/adow/cam-anfi-20050223.html </ref> Brimley enjoys playing poker and has played in the [[World Series of Poker]] Main Event.<ref>[http://www.pokerpages.com/tournament/result1747.htm 32nd Annual World Series of Poker<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Brimley has lent his support to [[John McCain]] in the [[2008 U.S. presidential election]].<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/05/mccains-unveils-his-answ_n_79945.html</ref> In the days leading up to his selection of Vice President, McCain jokingly stated that he would pick Brimley.<ref>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080828/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_veepstakes</ref> "He's a former Marine and great guy and he's older than I am, so that might work," McCain said.

===Career===
Before his career in acting, Brimley worked as a [[ranch hand]], [[Wrangler (profession)|wrangler]], [[blacksmith]], and a [[bodyguard]] for [[Howard Hughes]]. He then began [[farrier|shoeing]] horses for film and television. He began acting in the 1960s as a riding extra in [[Westerns]] and as a [[stunt man]] after the urging of his friend, actor [[Robert Duvall]].<ref>[http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800012696/bio Wilford Brimley Biography - Yahoo! Movies<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 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 (film)|The Hotel New Hampshire]]'', [[John Carpenter]]'s ''[[The Thing (film)|The Thing]]'', and ''[[Cocoon (film)|Cocoon]]''. In 2001 he starred in the [[Turner Network Television]] film ''[[Crossfire Trail (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 (1986 TV 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 [[List of minor Star Wars characters#Briqualon.2C Noa|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 (1993 film)|The Firm]]'', based on the novel by [[John Grisham]]. Brimley has frequently appeared in commercials, notably a series of commercials he did for [[The Quaker Oats Company|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 served as the spokesperson for the diabetes supplies company [[Liberty Medical]] for ten years. In the commercials that run frequently on daytime TV, Brimley advises viewers to "check their blood sugar, and check it often".

==Filmography==
{{Expand list|date=August 2008}}
<div style="font-size: 95%">
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
! Year !! Film !! Role !! Other notes
|-
| 1968 || ''[[Bandolero!]]'' || Stunts (uncredited) || &nbsp;
|-
| 1969 || ''[[True Grit]]'' || Stunts (uncredited) || &nbsp;
|-
| 1971 || ''[[Lawman (film)|Lawman]]'' || Stunts (uncredited) || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=2| 1979 || ''[[The China Syndrome]]'' || Ted Spindler || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[The Electric Horseman]]'' || Farmer || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=2| 1980 || ''[[Brubaker]]'' || Rogers || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Borderline (1980 film)|Borderline]]'' || Scooter Jackson || &nbsp;
|-
| 1981 || ''[[Absence of Malice]]'' || Asst. U.S. Atty. Gen. James A. Wells || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=2| 1982 || ''[[Death Valley (1982 film)|Death Valley]]'' || The Sheriff || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[The Thing (film)|The Thing]]'' || Dr. Blair || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=4| 1983 || ''[[Tender Mercies]]'' || Harry || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[10 to Midnight]]'' || Captain Maline || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[High Road to China]]'' || Bradley Tozer || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Tough Enough (1983 film)]]'' || Bill Long || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=6| 1984 || ''[[Harry & Son]]'' || Tom Keach || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Ewoks: The Battle for Endor|Ewoks: The Battle for Endor]]'' || Noa Briqualon || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[The Hotel New Hampshire (film)|The Hotel New Hampshire]]'' || Iowa Bob || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[The Stone Boy]]'' || George Jansen || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[The Natural (film)|The Natural]]'' || Pop Fisher || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Country (film)|Country]]'' || Otis || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=4| 1985 || ''[[Cocoon (film)|Cocoon]]'' || Benjamin Luckett || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins]]'' || Harold Smith || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Shadows on the Wall]]'' || Theater Owner || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Murder in Space - Showtime 2 part mini-series]]'' || Dr. Andrew McAllister || &nbsp;
|-
| 1986 || ''[[Jackals (film)|Jackals]]'' || Sheriff Mitchell || &nbsp;
|-
| 1987 || ''[[End of the Line]]'' || Will Haney || &nbsp;
|-
| 1988 || ''[[Cocoon: The Return]]'' || Benjamin Luckett || &nbsp;
|-
| 1989 || ''[[Eternity (1989 film)|Eternity]]'' || King/Eric || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=2| 1993 || ''[[The Firm (1993 film)|The Firm]]'' || William Devasher || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Hard Target]]'' || Uncle Douvee || &nbsp;
|-
| 1994 || ''[[Heaven Sent (1994 film)|Heaven Sent]]'' || Security Guard || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=2| 1995 || ''[[Mutant Species (1995 film)|Mutant Species]]'' || Devro || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Last of the Dogmen]]'' || Narrator (uncredited) || &nbsp;
|-
| 1996 || ''[[My Fellow Americans]]'' || Joe Hollis || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=2| 1997 || ''[[In & Out]]'' || Frank Brackett || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Lunker Lake]]'' || The Storyteller || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=5| 1998 || ''[[A Place to Grow]]'' || Jake || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Progeny (film)|Progeny]]'' || Dr. David Wetherly || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Chapter Perfect]]'' || Chief Hawkins || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[All My Friends Are Cowboys]]'' || Charlie || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Summer of the Monkeys (film)|Summer of the Monkeys]]'' || Grandpa Sam Ferrans || &nbsp;
|-
| 2000 || ''[[Comanche (2000 film)|Comanche]]'' || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=4| 2001 || ''[[PC and the Web]]'' || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Brigham City (film)|Brigham City]]'' || Stu || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[The Ballad of Lucy Whipple]]'' || Deputy Sheriff Ambrose Scraggs || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[Crossfire Trail]]'' || Joe Gill || &nbsp;
|-
| rowspan=2| 2002 || ''[[Resurrection Mary (film)|Resurrection Mary]]'' || Morty || &nbsp;
|-
| ''[[The Round and Round]]'' || Governor || &nbsp;
|-
| 2003 || ''[[The Road Home (2003 film)|The Road Home]]'' || Coach Weaver || &nbsp;
|-
|}</div>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{imdb|0000979}}
* {{amg name|2:8487}}

<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->

{{Persondata
|NAME= Brimley, Wilford
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Brimley, Allen Wilford
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actor
|DATE OF BIRTH= [[September 27]], [[1934]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brimley, Wilford}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:American film actors]]
[[Category:American Latter Day Saints]]
[[Category:American television actors]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Salt Lake City, Utah]]
[[Category:People with diabetes]]
[[Category:United States Marines]]

[[de:Wilford Brimley]]
[[fr:Wilford Brimley]]
[[ja:ウィルフォード・ブリムリー]]
[[sv:Wilford Brimley]]

Revision as of 18:59, 6 January 2009

Wilford Brimley
Born
Allen Wilford Brimley

Allen Wilford Brimley (born September 27, 1934 in Salt Lake City, Utah) has diabeetus.

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