Wilford Brimley, the gruff-voiced character actor who became a household name through film roles and Quaker Oats commercials, spent his final weeks fighting a battle that few knew about. The man who spent over four decades as one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces died on August 1st, 2020 at age 85. His long-term manager, Linda Bensky, confirmed that his body could not overcome kidney failure combined with secondary systemic medical issues. His rise to fame could not have been more unlikely.
Born Anthony Wilford Brimley in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 27th, 1934, he left school at 14 to work as a traveling cowboy across the American West. He enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps at 19, spending three years stationed in the Aleutian Islands.
After his service, he worked manual labor jobs, including a stint as a private bodyguard for the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. He also trained as a farrier and opened a blacksmithing business. His Hollywood career began by accident when production sets hired him to shoe horses during the 1960s Western craze. His real-world horse handling led to uncredited stunt riding and extra work.
Actor Robert Duvall, whom he met on set, encouraged him to pursue speaking roles. Without ever taking an acting class, Brimley landed a recurring role on The Waltons in the 1970s and gained critical attention in The China Syndrome in 1979. He earned his most famous role as Ben Luckett in Cocoon, and became a daily presence in American homes through Quaker Oats commercials throughout the 1980s and 90s. Behind the successful career was a man who struggled with the demands of fame.
He refused to live in Los Angeles, choosing instead remote ranches in Utah and Wyoming. His blunt, stubborn personality made him difficult to work with on set at times, yet he was also deeply compassionate. In 2009, he co-founded the nonprofit Hands Across the Saddle with his second wife, which has provided over $800,000 in direct financial assistance to Wyoming families. His personal life was marked by both devotion and tragedy.
He married Lynn Bagley in 1956, and the couple had four sons together, including Lawrence Dean, who died in infancy in 1966. The marriage lasted 44 years until Lynn’s death in 2000. He married Beverly Berry in 2007, and the couple split their time between homes in Wyoming and Utah until his passing. Wilford Brimley’s health battle spanned decades.
In 1979, the same year his film career took off, he was diagnosed with type2 diabetes mellitus. Instead of hiding the diagnosis, he spent over 40 years traveling the country to educate the public about managing blood sugar levels, including visiting Veterans Administration hospitals to teach sick servicemen. His advocacy reached a massive audience through a Liberty Medical commercial campaign, where his distinctive pronunciation of the word diabetes turned him into an early viral internet meme. Unlike many celebrities who resented mockery, he embraced the jokes on Twitter, understanding they brought attention to diabetes awareness.
Hilary, the American Diabetes Association honored him with a lifetime service award in 2008. In June 2020, his health took a sharp downturn unrelated to diabetes. He developed a severe, progressive kidney condition that worsened rapidly over two months. He was admitted to a hospital in St.
George, Utah, where he spent his final weeks on continuous dialysis as his kidneys failed. He was simultaneously fighting multiple other unnamed systemic ailments while bedridden. His wife, Beverly, remained at his bedside, and his family rotated shifts to ensure he was never alone. He reportedly kept his dry humor with the hospital staff even as his body failed.
He passed away quietly on the morning of August4st, 2020. Following his wishes, his body was cremated with no public Hollywood funeral or gravesite established. His ashes were returned to his wife and surviving sons. It was a private ending for a man who had never been comfortable with the trappings of celebrity culture, his legacy carried on through his films, his advocacy, and the lives he touched.
The final turnout of his life was quiet and dignified, much like the man himself.
