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Entertainment industry

Wilford Brimley, known for Quaker Oats, dies at 85

The actor, who had roles alongside Tom Cruise in The Firm and both Cocoon films, passed away on Saturday according to reports in U.S. media.

Update:
Wilford Brimley attends the premiere of "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City in 2009.
BRYAN BEDDERAFP

Wilford Brimley, best known for his roles in the Oscar-winning movie Cocoon and The Firm has died at the age of 85. Brimley was also the face of Quaker Oats for many years and a former U.S. Marine who worked his way into the industry through stunt work in westerns, notably on the John Wayne classic True Grit. Among his television credits were roles in The Waltons and Kung Fu, playing a character called Horace Brimley in both, and Seinfeld.

Utah-born Brimley took on successively larger roles in his 40s and 50s which brought him fame playing sometimes gruff but lovable mustachioed seniors.

Barbara Hershey: Brimley a "wonderful man and actor"

In Ron Howard's 1985 Sci-Fi feature "Cocoon", Brimley played a man in his 70s who together with the other residents of a Florida retirement home, discovers an alien energy source that rejuvenates them.

Another memorable role came alongside Tom Cruise in the 1993 legal thriller, "The Firm", where Brimley played a sinister security official for a law firm.

Actor Barbara Hershey, who starred with Brimley in several films, described him on Twitter as a wonderful man and actor who "always made me laugh".