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Richard Farnsworth
Richard William Farnsworth (September 1, 1920 – October 6, 2000) was an American actor and stuntman. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award: in 1978 for Best Supporting Actor for Comes a Horseman, and in 2000 for Best Actor in The Straight Story, making him the second–oldest nominee for the award for the latter.[1][2] Farnsworth was also known for his performances in The Grey Fox (1982), for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, as well as Anne of Green Gables (1985), Sylvester (1985), and Misery (1990). Early lifeFarnsworth was born on September 1, 1920, in Los Angeles, California. His mother was a homemaker and his father was an engineer.[3] CareerFarnsworth gradually moved into acting in Western movies. He made uncredited appearances in numerous films, including Gone with the Wind (1939), Red River (1948), The Wild One (1953), and The Ten Commandments (1956). In 1960, credited as Dick Farnsworth, he appeared as a Gault ranch hand in the "Street of Hate" episode of the TV Western Laramie. He received his first acting credit in a film in 1963 and went on to act in many Western films and television shows. He had a role in Roots (1977) and co-starred with Wilford Brimley in The Boys of Twilight (1992). He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination for the Alan J. Pakula film Comes a Horseman (1978). A breakthrough came when he played stagecoach robber Bill Miner in the 1982 Canadian film The Grey Fox. He appeared as a baseball coach in The Natural (1984). In 1985, he played the brother to Marilla and father figure to Anne in Anne of Green Gables and starred as a soft-spoken, sage cowboy with horse training wisdom for Melissa Gilbert in Sylvester.[4] His other prominent roles included a wealthy and ruthless oil man in The Two Jakes (1990) and the suspicious sheriff in the film version of Stephen King's Misery (1990). His final role was playing Alvin Straight in the David Lynch film The Straight Story (1999), for which he received an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination. Personal life and deathFarnsworth had a long marriage and had two children. After becoming a widower, he lived on a ranch in Lincoln, New Mexico.[5] On the night of October 6, 2000, suffering from terminal cancer that left him partially paralyzed and in great pain, Farnsworth died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his ranch in Lincoln.[6] FilmographyFilm
Television
Awards and nominations
Comes a Horseman (1979)
The Grey Fox (1982)
Anne of Green Gables (1985)
Chase (1985) The Straight Story (1999)
Note: Farnsworth was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1997. In addition, Farnsworth received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star for his contributions in the motion pictures on August 17, 1992; the star is located at 1560 Vine Street.[7][8] References
Further reading
External links
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