A stout, often bespectacled, character actor of film and TV with a walrus mustache and a flair for accents, Wilford Brimley proved himself adept at playing endearing curmudgeons, giving perhaps his most memorable performance as one of the increasingly frisky senior citizens in Ron Howard's "Cocoon" (1985) and its sequel "Cocoon: The Return" (1988). Brimley brought his familiar persona to the small screen role of Gus Witherspoon, the cantankerous grandfather who took in his widowed daughter-in-law and three grandchildren, in the NBC dramatic series "Our House" (1986-88), and as the folksy spokesperson for Quaker Oats. His wholesome demeanor and honest character helped to spur the resurgent popularity of that product.
A true Westerner, the young Brimley worked as a ranch hand, wrangler and blacksmith to support his family. His first exposure to show business was shoeing horses for stables that furnished animals for movie and TV Westerns. When he returned to Los Angeles after living in Idaho for a few years, Brimley began working as a riding extra for Westerns during the mid-1960s and formed a lasting friendship with the up-and-coming actor Robert Duvall who urged the cowboy to pursue acting as a career. He continued to work as an extra until stunt work earned him his Screen Actors Guild card, making it possible for him to land small parts in movies like "True Grit" (1969) and "Lawman" (1971) and eventually a recurring role on the CBS series "The Waltons". At the urging of series star Ralph Waite, Brimley, eager to add depth and polish to his craft, became a charter member of Waite's Los Angeles Actors Theater.
As Ted Spindler, the plant foreman who knew his plant was unsafe in "The China Syndrome" (1979), Brimley received his first critical attention for his well-delineated company man who eulogized the slain Jack Lemmon character. Following this breakthrough, his career skyrocketed, and in rapid succession he appeared in such top-of-the-line films as "The Electric Horseman" (1979), "Brubaker" (1980), "Absence of Malice" (1981), "Tender Mercies" (1983) and "Harry and Son" (1984) before delivering a wonderful performance as Robert Redford's skeptical manager turned true believer in "The Natural" (1984). Next, billed right behind Jessica Lange and Sam Shepherd in "Country", Brimley gave a finely-tuned portrayal as Lange's disillusioned father, who watched a farm that had been prosperous for generations falter before his eyes, and then joined a stellar cast including Don Ameche, Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy for his star-making turn in "Cocoon".
Although his career has lost some of its 80s sizzle, it has by no means fizzled. In a departure from his usual man-of-the-people guise, he offered sturdy support as the sinister company watchdog in "The Firm" (1993), and "My Fellow Americans" (1996) reunited him with his good friend Duval for a sixth time. He has appeared on TV in movies like CBS's "Blood River" (1991) and TNT's "The Good Old Boys" (1995), and his ongoing role as Quaker Oats' spokesman has kept him solidly in the public eye. He put in an appearance as Kevin Kline's father and Debbie Reynolds' husband in Frank Oz's "In & Out" (1997), but both Reynolds and he are little more than window dressing in a film that can only accommodate Kline, Tom Selleck, Matt Dillon and Joan Cusack.