What Was Wilford Brimley's Net Worth and Salary?
Wilford Brimley was an American actor, singer, and television pitchman who had a net worth of $8 million at the time of his death in 2020. A stout, often bespectacled, character actor of film and TV with a walrus mustache and a flair for accents, 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).
Wilford had more than 70 acting credits to his name, including the films "The China Syndrome" (1979), "The Thing" (1982), "The Natural" (1984), "The Firm" (1993), "In & Out" (1997), "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" (2009), and "I Believe" (2017), the television series "The Waltons" (1974–1977) and "Our House" (1986–1988), and the TV movies "The Wild Wild West Revisited" (1979), "Ewoks: The Battle for Endor" (1985), "Billy the Kid" (1989), and "Blood River" (1991). Brimley was "a fine singer with a warm, rich voice," and in 2004, he released the jazz album "This Time, The Dream's On Me." He was also known for appearing in commercials for Liberty Medical and Quaker Oats. Wilford passed away in August 2020 from a kidney condition at the age of 85.
Early Life
Wilford Brimley was born Anthony Wilford Brimley on September 27, 1934, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He grew up in a Mormon household with mother Lola, father Wilford (a real estate broker), and brother Sterling. Brimley left high school when he was 14 years old and began working as a cowboy in Idaho, Arizona, and Nevada. During the Korean War, he spent three years serving in the Aleutian Islands as a Marine. Wilford found work as a wrangler, ranch hand, and blacksmith, and he was a bodyguard for eccentric business magnate/film producer Howard Hughes. After he began shoeing horses for movies and television shows, his friend Robert Duvall encouraged him to try acting, and he started out as a stuntman and riding extra in Westerns.
Career
At the beginning of his career, Brimley had uncredited roles in the films "True Grit" (1969) and "Lawman" (1971), and from 1974 to 1977, he had a recurring role as Horace Brimley on the CBS series "The Waltons." Around this time, he also guest-starred on "Kung Fu" (1975) and "The Oregon Trail" (1976–1977), and portrayed President Grover Cleveland in the TV movie "The Wild Wild West Revisited" (1979). Wilford co-starred with Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and Michael Douglas in the Academy Award-nominated film "The China Syndrome" (1979), then he appeared in "The Electric Horseman" (1979), "Brubaker" (1980), "Borderline" (1981), "Absence of Malice" (1981), "Death Valley" (1982), "Tender Mercies" (1983), "10 to Midnight" (1983), "High Road to China" (1983), "Tough Enough" (1983), "Harry & Son" (1984), "Jackals" (1986), and "End of the Line" (1987). He played Dr. Blair in "The Thing" (1982), 'Pop' Fisher in "The Natural" (1984), and Ben Luckett in "Cocoon" (1985) and "Cocoon: The Return" (1988), and he starred in the TV movies "Amber Waves" (1980), "Roughnecks" (1980), "Rodeo Girl" (1980), "The Big Black Pill" (1981), "Murder in Space" (1985), "Ewoks: The Battle for Endor" (1985), "Act of Vengeance" (1986), and "Billy the Kid" (1989). From 1986 to 1988, Brimley played Gus Witherspoon on the NBC drama "Our House," and in the '90s, he guest-starred on "Walker, Texas Ranger" (1995) and "Seinfeld" (1997) and starred in the Tom Clancy miniseries "Op Center" (1995).
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Wilford appeared in the films "Eternity" (1990), "Where the Red Fern Grows: Part II" (1992), "Hard Target" (1993), "Heaven Sent" (1994), "Mutant Species" (1995), "My Fellow Americans" (1996), "Progeny" (1998), and "A Place to Grow" (1999), and he co-starred with Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman in "The Firm" (1993) and with Kevin Kline, Joan Cusack, Matt Dillon, and Debbie Reynolds in "In & Out" (1997). "The Firm" grossed $270.2 million against a $42 million and won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture. In the 2000s, Brimley starred in the TV movies "Crossfire Trail" (2001) and "The Ballad of Lucy Whipple" (2001) and the films "Comanche" (2000), "Brigham City" (2001), "Resurrection Mary" (2002), "The Road Home" (2003), "The Path of the Wind" (2009), "Timber the Treasure Dog" (2016), and "I Believe" (2017). In 2009, he appeared in "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" alongside Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sam Elliott, Mary Steenburgen, and Elisabeth Moss and narrated the documentary "Born to Ride: Cody Wright and the Quest for a World Title." In 2016, Wilford appeared in the documentaries "The Natural: The Best There Ever Was" and "The Men of Outpost 31."
Personal Life
Wilford married Lynne Bagley on July 6, 1956, and they had four sons, James, John, Bill, and Lawrence. Sadly, Lawrence died as an infant in 1966, and Lynne passed away in 2000. Brimley wed Beverly Berry on October 31, 2007, and they remained married until his death in 2020. Wilford and Beverly established the nonprofit organization Hands Across the Saddle in 2009. After being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the late '70s, Brimley began raising awareness of the disease, and in 2008, he was honored by the American Diabetes Association. Wilford appeared in commercials for Liberty Medical Supply in which he pronounced "diabetes" as "diabeetus," and they became an internet sensation. He subsequently began promoting "diabeetus" merchandise to raise funds for diabetes research. Brimley spoke out against proposals to ban the cruel sport of cockfighting in New Mexico and Arizona, and he paid for ads advocating for horse-race gambling in Utah. He enjoyed spending his time playing poker, and in 2001, he competed in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Wilford supported John McCain in the 2008 presidential election, and before choosing his running mate, McCain jokingly said that he might choose Brimley, stating, "He's a former Marine and great guy and he's older than I am, so that might work."
Death
After suffering from a kidney ailment for two months, Wilford passed away in a Utah hospital on August 1, 2020. Brimley was 85 years old and had been on dialysis at the time of his death. Later that month, the Western TV series "Yellowstone" paid tribute to Wilford during the season three episode "Meaner Than Evil" with a title card that read "In loving memory of Wilford Brimley. A cowboy, an artist and a damn good friend."
Awards and Nominations
In 2005, Brimley was honored with a Golden Boot at the Golden Boot Awards. In 1987, he earned a CableACE Award nomination for Actor in a Movie or Miniseries for "Act of Vengeance," and in 2013, he received a Maverick Movie Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor: Short for "Masque."
Real Estate
Wilford lived in a 276-acre ranch in Greybull, Wyoming, for several years. In mid-2014, he put the property on the market for $1.25 million, and it reportedly sold for just under $1.15 million In April 2015.
