Wilford Brimley, best known for his roles in “The Natural,” the 1982 remake of “The Thing,” “The Firm” and “Cocoon,” died on Saturday.
He was 85.His agent, Lynda Bensky, told The New York Times that he had been sick with a kidney problem for two months.Brimley was also famous for the series of commercials for Quaker Oats in which he appeared.Pauline Kael ably summed up his appeal in a few words.
Reviewing “Cocoon” for the New Yorker in 1985, she said, “Wilford Brimley, with his walrus mustache and friendly belly, brings an ornery impudence to his role.”Brimley, who seemed to enter old age several decades ago, appeared perfectly at home in the Ron Howard-directed movie about senior citizens unintentionally rejuvenated by an alien life force in the pool where they do water aerobics even though he was only 51 at the time.
Brimley’s Ben Luckett doing cannonballs in
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