Wilford Brimley
Anthony Wilford Brimley (born September 27, 1934), credited either as A. Wilford Brimley or Wilford Brimley, is an American actor. He has appeared in such films as The China Syndrome, The Thing, Cocoon and The Firm. He had a recurring role on the 1970s television series The Waltons. Brimley has also done television advertisements, including for the Quaker Oats Company and Liberty Medical.
He has diabetes, and both his appearance in related commercials and pronunciation of the illness (as "Dia-Beet-is" or "Di-uh-Beet-us") have gained him a cult following.
Early life
Brimley was born Anthony Wilford Brimley in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 27, 1934, where his father worked as a real estate broker. Prior to his career in acting, Brimley dropped out of high school to serve in the United States Marine Corps, where he served in the Aleutian Islands for three years. He also worked as a bodyguard (for Howard Hughes),ranch hand, wrangler and blacksmith. He then began shoeing horses for film and television. He began acting in the 1960s as a riding extra in Westerns and a stunt man at the urging of his friend, actor Robert Duvall.