Brimley, Wilford 1934- (A. Wilford Brimley, Bill Brimley)

views updated

Brimley, Wilford 1934- (A. Wilford Brimley, Bill Brimley)

PERSONAL

Born September 27, 1934, in Salt Lake City, UT; father, a real estate broker; married Lynn, September 27, 1955; children: Jim, John, Bill.

Addresses:

Agent—The Blake Agency, 1327 Ocean Ave., Suite J, Santa Monica, CA 90401; Cunningham, Escott, Slevin and Doherty Talent Agency, 10635 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 140, Los Angeles, CA 90025.

Career:

Actor. Worked as a riding extra and stuntman, beginning 1965; founding member of Los Angeles Actors' Theatre, 1976; appeared in television commercials for Quaker Oats, c. 1990, and Liberty Medical insurance, 1999—. Previously worked as a farmer, blacksmith, wrangler, ranch hand, horse trainer, rodeo rider, and bodyguard to Howard Hughes (late 1950s). Military service: Served in U.S. Marine Corps during Korean War.

Member:

Screen Actors Guild.

Awards, Honors:

CableACE Award nomination, actor in a movie or miniseries, 1987, for Act of Vengeance; Advertising Age Award, Star Presenter of the Year, 1988; Golden Boot Award, Motion Picture and Television Fund, 2005.

CREDITS

Film Appearances:

(Uncredited) True Grit, Paramount, 1969.

(As Bill Brimley) Marc Corman, The Lawman, United Artists, 1971.

Ted Spindler, The China Syndrome, Columbia, 1979.

Farmer, The Electric Horseman, Columbia, 1979.

(As A. Wilford Brimley) Scooter Jackson, Borderline, Associated Film Distributors, 1980.

Rogers, prison board member, Brubaker, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1980.

James A. Wells, Assistant U.S. Attorney General, Absence of Malice, Columbia, 1981.

(As A. Wilford Brimley) Sheriff, Death Valley, Universal, 1981.

(As A. Wilford Brimley) Blair, The Thing (also known as John Carpenter's "The Thing"), Universal, 1982.

Bill Long, Tough Enough, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1982.

Harry Silver, Tender Mercies, Universal, 1982.

Captain Malone, 10 to Midnight, Cannon, 1983.

Bradley Tozer, High Road to China, Warner Bros., 1983.

George Jansen, The Stone Boy, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1983.

Tom, Harry and Son, Orion, 1984.

"Iowa Bob" Berry, The Hotel New Hampshire, Orion, 1984.

Otis Steward, Country, Buena Vista, 1984.

Pop Fisher, The Natural, TriStar, 1984.

(Archive footage) Terror in the Aisles (also known as Time for Terror), 1984.

Ben Luckett, Cocoon, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1985.

Harold Smith, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins … (also known as Remo: Unarmed and Dangerous), Orion, 1985.

Sheriff Mitchell, Jackals (also known as American Justice), Warner Bros., 1986.

Shadows on the Wall, 1986.

Will Haney, End of the Line, Orion, 1988.

Ben Luckett, Cocoon: The Return, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1988.

Eric/King, Eternity, 1990.

Grandpa Will, Where the Red Fern Grows: Part Two, 1992.

Uncle Douvee, Hard Target, Universal, 1993.

William Devasher, The Firm, Paramount, 1993.

Security guard, Heaven Sent, KOAN, Inc., 1994.

(Uncredited) Narrator, Last of the Dogmen, Savoy Pictures, 1995.

Jake, A Place to Grow, MTI Home Video, 1995.

Devro, Mutant Species (also known as Bio-Force I), Live Entertainment, 1995.

Joe Hollis, My Fellow Americans, Warner Bros., 1996.

Chief Danny Hawkins, Chapter Perfect, Vivafilm, 1996.

Frank Brackett, In & Out, Paramount, 1997.

The storyteller, Lunker Lake, 1997.

Grandpa Sam Ferrans, Summer of the Monkeys (also known as L' te des singes), BWE Distribution, 1997.

Charlie, All My Friends Are Cowboys, 1998.

Dr. David Wetherly, The Progeny, Fries Film Group, 1998.

Chief Hawkins, Chapter Perfect, 1998.

Jake, A Place to Grow, 1998.

Comance, 2000.

Benjamin Luckett, Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years, 2000.

Sheriff Stu, Brigham City, Excel Entertainment, 2001.

PC and the Web, 2001.

Governor, The Round and Round (also known as Cock-fight), 2002.

Morty, Resurrection Mary (short), 2002.

Harry, Miracles & Mercies (documentary short), Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2002.

Coach Weaver, The Road Home (also known as Pitcher and the Pin-Up), Screen Media Films, 2003.

Ted Spindler, "The China Syndrome": A Fusion of Talent (documentary short), Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 2004.

Ted Spindler, "The China Syndrome": Creating a Controversy (documentary short), Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 2004.

Film Work:

(Uncredited) Stunts, Where the Red Fern Grows: Part 2, 1992.

Television Appearances; Series:

(As A. Wilford Brimley) Horace Brimley, The Waltons, CBS, 1974-77.

Gus Witherspoon, Our House (also known as My Grandfather's House), NBC, 1986-88.

Bill Huntoon, The Boys of Twilight (also known as Grey Guns and Cody and Bill), CBS, 1992.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

(As A. Wilford Brimley) Jude McWhirter, The Awakening Land, 1978.

Willie Clayton, Roughnecks, syndicated, 1980.

Admiral Troy Davis, OP Center (also known as Tom Clancy's "OP Center," ABC, 1995.

Television Appearances; Movies:

(As Wilford A. Brimley) President Grover Cleveland, The Wild Wild West Revisited, CBS, 1979.

Bingo Gibbs, Rodeo Girl, CBS, 1980.

Pete Alberts, Amber Waves, ABC, 1980.

Dr. Andrew McCallister, Murder in Space, Showtime, 1985.

Noa, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, ABC, 1985.

Tony Boyle, Act of Vengeance, HBO, 1986.

Red Haines, Thompson's Last Run, CBS, 1986.

Governor Lew Wallace, Gore Vidal's "Billy the Kid" (also known as Billy the Kid), TNT, 1989.

U.S. Marshal Winston Patrick Culler, Blood River, CBS, 1991.

Floyd Buckman, Shadows on the Wall, syndicated, 1991.

C. C. Tarpley, The Good Old Boys, TNT, 1995.

Joe Gill, Crossfire Trail (also known as Louis L'Amour's "Crossfire Trail"), TNT, 2001.

Deputy Sheriff Ambrose Scraggs, The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (also known as California Gold), 2001.

Television Appearances; Specials:

The Making of "The China Syndrome," 1979.

The Making of "Absence of Malice," 1982.

Voice of the Constitution, Funny, You Don't Look 200 (also known as Funny, You Don't Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville), ABC, 1987.

Voice of Theodore Roosevelt, The River of Doubt (also known as New Explorers), PBS, 1992.

Charlie, All My Friends Are Cowboys, PBS, 1998.

Storyteller, Keeper of the Flame, 2005.

Television Appearances; Pilots:

Ludlow, The Oregon Trail, NBC, 1976.

Wally Haskell, Joe Dancer: The Big Black Pill (also known as The Big Black Pill and Joe Dancer), NBC, 1981.

Martin Barry, The Firm, NBC, 1983.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

(As A. Wilford Brimley) Blacksmith, "One Step to Darkness," Kung Fu, 1975.

"Hard Ride Home and the Last Game," The Oregon Trail, 1977.

Sheriff Daniels, "Hillary," How the West Was Won, 1979.

Harry Prentice, "See No Evil," Homicide: Life on the Street (also known as Homicide), NBC, 1994.

Storytime, PBS, 1994.

Burt Mueller, "War Zone," Walker, Texas Ranger (also known as Walker), CBS, 1995.

Henry Atkins, Postmaster General, "The Junk Mail," Seinfeld, NBC, 1997.

Larry King Live, CNN, 2003.

Also appeared in Gunsmoke, CBS; Custer, ABC; Lancer, CBS.

Stage Appearances:

The Petrified Forest, Off-Broadway production, 2001.

More From encyclopedia.com