Wilford Brimley

Wilford Brimley, the veteran character actor known for films including Cocoon, The China Syndrome, The Thing, and The Natural, who later became a national spokesman for diabetes awareness, has died at the age of 85. TMZ reports that Brimley had been in failing health in recent days and passed away Saturday morning (August 1st) at his home in Utah. Prior to pursing a career in acting, Brimley served in the Marines, and worked as a bodyguard for Howard Hughes, a ranch hand, a wrangler, and a blacksmith. In the late 1960s, at the urging of his friend Robert Duvall, Brimley began pursing work as an extra and stuntman in Westerns. Brimley’s big break came in the 1970s after landing a reoccurring role in the popular CBS television series The Waltons. By the end of the decade, he pivote...