Wilford Brimley
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Allen Wilford Brimley (born September 27, 1934) is an American character actor.
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[edit] Biography
Brimley was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He did not become famous until he was older, appearing in such films as The Hotel New Hampshire and John Carpenter's The Thing.
He often plays gruff or stodgy old men, notably on the 1980s drama series Our House. He got this characterization off to a good start in Absence of Malice, in which he played a small but key role as a curmudgeonly, outspoken federal investigator. 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, entitled Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.
In a change from his "good guy" roles such as those in Our House, he played William Devasher, the head of security for Bendini, Lambery & Locke in 1993's The Firm.
Brimley is also well known for his appearances on commercials, namely a series of commercials he did for Quaker Oats Oatmeal throughout the 1980s and '90s. He promoted Quaker commercials were famous for their slogan: "It's the right thing to do." Most recently, however, Brimley has made a series of commercials for the diabetes testing-supplies company Liberty Medical. These commercials appear frequently during the airing of The Price Is Right, and in them, Brimley politely (yet sternly) admonishes viewers to "check your blood sugar and check it often." The commercials were parodied on Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story<ref>http://www.familyguyquotes.com/episodes/stewie-griffin-the-untold-story-quotes.html</ref> and on Saturday Night Live played by John Goodman.
In the Comedy Central show The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert had a sketch where he plays the voice of Wilford Brimley. In the sketch, "Wilford" calls Colbert very early in the morning, waking him up, having nonsensical conversations, and giving him ideas for Colbert's show. Wilford Brimley's voice was also parodied by Colbert in the television series Strangers With Candy.
In early 2006, Brimley was the subject of a series of music videos on YouTube.com that parodied his Liberty Medical commercials and his pronunciation of 'diabetes' (normally /dajƏbitiz/) by a colloquial alternative, /dajƏbitƏs/. On June 5, 2006 Diabeetis.com was officially launched. "Diabeetus" is also a common parody of his pronunciation.
Brimley is also known as an activist opposed to the banning of cockfighting. He has campaigned in Arizona and New Mexico against laws banning cockfighting.<ref>http://www.all-creatures.org/adow/cam-anfi-20050223.html</ref>
[edit] Selected filmography
- Brigham City (2001)
- In & Out (1997)
- My Fellow Americans (1996) as Joe Hollis
- Hard Target (1993)
- The Firm (1993)
- End of the Line (1988) as Brakeman Will Haney
- Cocoon (1985) and Cocoon: The Return (1988) as Ben Luckett
- Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)
- Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985)
- The Natural (1984)
- Tender Mercies (1983)
- The Thing (1982) as Blair
- Absence of Malice (1981)
- Brubaker (1980)
- The China Syndrome (1979)
[edit] References
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