Richard Farnsworth

This article is about the American actor. For the English 17th-century Quaker, see Richard Farnsworth (Quaker). For the American politician from Maine, see Richard Farnsworth (politician).

Richard Farnsworth
200px Farnsworth in The Straight Story, his final role.
Born	(1920-09-01)September 1, 1920 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	Lincoln, New Mexico, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Los Angeles, California
Residence	Lincoln, New Mexico
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1937–99
Known for	The Grey Fox The Straight Story Misery
Home town	Los Angeles
Spouse(s)	Margaret Hill (1947–85; her death)
Children	Diamond Farnsworth (b. 1949) Missy Farnsworth

Richard W. Farnsworth (September 1, 1920 – October 6, 2000) was an American actor and stuntman. His film career began in 1937; however, he achieved his greatest success for his performances in The Grey Fox (1982) and The Straight Story (1999), for which he received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Early life

Farnsworth was born in Los Angeles, California, to a housewife mother and an engineer father. He was raised during the Great Depression. He lived with his aunt, mother, and two sisters in downtown Los Angeles after his father died when he was seven years old.

Career

He was working as a stable hand at a polo field in Los Angeles for six dollars a week when he was offered a chance to make seven dollars a day plus a box lunch as a stuntman. In 1937, when he was sixteen, he started by riding horses in films such as The Adventures of Marco Polo with Gary Cooper. He performed several horse-riding stunts in such films as the Marx Brothers' A Day at the Races (1937) and Gunga Din (1939).

What differentiated Farnsworth from other western actors was his gradual transition into acting from stunt work. 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). He was on the set of Spartacus (1960) for eleven months. He laughed when he said he did not look like a gladiator but drove a chariot. However, it was not until 1963 that he finally received his first acting credit.

Farnsworth's acting career largely consisted of western films, although he did appear in a number of television shows. He was in 1977 television miniseries Roots, he won a Gemini Award for his performance as Matthew Cuthbert in the 1985 Canadian miniseries Anne of Green Gables and he co-starred with Wilford Brimley in the short-lived but critically acclaimed 1992 summer replacement The Boys of Twilight. In 1979, Farnsworth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Comes a Horseman. However, his breakthrough came when he played stagecoach robber Bill Miner in the 1982 Canadian film The Grey Fox, for which he won a Genie Award. He appeared as a baseball coach in The Natural in 1984, and . Another of his prominent roles was as a suspicious sheriff in the film version of Stephen King's Misery (1990), a character that was created exclusively for the movie.

Farnsworth became well known in the Pacific Northwest for portraying the groundskeeper who saw the mythical "Artesians" in the 1980s Olympia Beer ad campaign.

In 1999, Farnsworth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for The Straight Story. When director David Lynch offered him the role, Farnsworth had no idea who he was. Farnsworth did not like violence or swearing, and Lynch assured him that there would be none of that in the movie. The lead role was a rarity for a man his age.

Farnsworth has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street. In 1997, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Personal life and death

Farnsworth was married to Margaret "Maggie" Hill (who died in 1985) for 38 years. They had two children, Diamond and Missy. He moved to Lincoln, New Mexico, where he owned a 60-acre (240,000 m²) ranch and was involved in the community and was well-liked.

Toward the end of his life, he met Jewely Van Valin, a stewardess 35 years his junior. Farnsworth and Van Valin started riding horses together, and later became engaged. Farnsworth was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in the early 1990s. He was eventually diagnosed with terminal bone cancer, which left him partially paralyzed and unable to walk. On October 6, 2000, Farnsworth committed suicide by shooting himself at his ranch. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California in the Columbarium of Purity, N-63294 alongside his wife, Margaret Hill Farnsworth (1919-1985).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1937	A Day at the Races	Jockey (uncredited)
1938	The Adventures of Marco Polo	Mongol Warrior (uncredited)
1939	Gunga Din	Bit Part (uncredited)
1939	Gone with the Wind	Soldier (uncredited)
1943	This Is the Army	Soldier (uncredited)
1948	Red River	Dunston Rider (uncredited)
1948	The Paleface	Minor Role (uncredited)
1949	Mighty Joe Young	Cowboy (uncredited)
1953	Arena	Cowboy (uncredited)
1953	Arrowhead	Cavalryman (uncredited)
1953	The Wild One	(uncredited)
1955	The Violent Men	Anchor Rider (uncredited)
1956	The Ten Commandments	Chariot Driver (uncredited)
1957	The Tin Star	(uncredited)
1957	The Hard Man {{{last}}}	Posse Man (uncredited)
1960	Spartacus	Salt Mine Slave / Gladiator / Slave General (uncredited)
1963	The Jolly Genie	Thug	Short film
1966	Duel at Diablo	Wagon Driver #1 (uncredited)
1966	Texas Across the River	Medicine Man
1968	The Stalking Moon	(uncredited)
1970	Monte Walsh	Cowboy
1972	The Cowboys	Henry Williams
1972	Pocket Money	Man (uncredited)
1972	Ulzana's Raid	Trooper
1972	The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean	Outlaw
1973	The Soul of Nigger Charley	Walker
1973	Papillon	Manhunter (uncredited)
1974	Blazing Saddles	Sheriff (uncredited)
1975	The Apple Dumpling Gang	Mover (uncredited)
1976	The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox	Stagecoach Driver
1976	The Outlaw Josey Wales	Comanchero (uncredited)
1977	Another Man, Another Chance	Stagecoach Driver
1977	Roots	Slave Catcher
1978	Comes a Horseman	Dodger	National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor (tied with Robert Morley in Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?) Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor (2nd place)
1980	Tom Horn	John C. Coble
1980	Ruckus	Sheriff Jethro Pough
1980	Resurrection	Esco
1981	The Legend of the Lone Ranger	Wild Bill Hickok
1982	The Grey Fox	Bill Miner	Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor London Film Critics Circle Award for Actor of the Year (tied with James Mason in The Shooting Party) Taormina Film Fest: Golden Mask Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1982	Waltz Across Texas	Frank Walker
1983	Independence Day	Evan
1984	The Natural	Red Blow
1984	Rhinestone	Noah
1985	Into the Night	Jack Caper
1985	Sylvester	Foster
1985	Space Rage	Colonel
1988	The River Pirates	Percy
1990	The Two Jakes	Earl Rawley
1990	Misery	Buster
1990	Havana	Professor
1991	Highway to Hell	Sam
1994	The Getaway	Slim
1994	Lassie	Len Collins
1999	The Straight Story	Alvin Straight	Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival: Best Actor Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated - Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Nominated - Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor (2nd place) Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated - Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor (2nd place)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	The Adventures of Kit Carson	Henchman (uncredited)	Episode: "Fury at Red Gulch" Episode: "The Desperate Sheriff"
1954	The Adventures of Kit Carson	Army Wagon Driver	Episode: "The Gatling Gun"
1955	Soldiers of Fortune	Gaucho (uncredited)	Episode: "The General"
1956	Zane Grey Theater	Trooper	Episode: "Star Over Texas"
1958	Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok	Butler	Episode: "Jingles on the Jailroad"
1958	Cimarron City	Ira Youngman (uncredited)	Episode: "Twelve Guns"
1959	State Trooper	Caleb Smith	Episode: "Lonely Valley"
1959	The Rebel	Trooper	Episode: "Yellow Hair"
1960	Wanted: Dead or Alive	Rance Hal	Episode: "The Partners" Episode: "To the Victor"
1960	Laramie	Gault Ranch Hand Manley (uncredited)	Episode: "Street of Hate" Episode: "Ride into Darkness"
1961	Laramie	Hank	Episode: "The Tumbleweed Wagon"
1965	The Big Valley	Bolin	Episode: "The Odyssey of Jubal Tanner"
1966	The Big Valley	Businessman	Episode: "Image of Yesterday"
1967	Cimarron Strip	Dusty Rhodes Benefiel	Episode: "Journey to a Hanging" Episode: "The Battleground"
1970	The High Chaparral	Lloyd	Episode: "The Long Shadow"
1971	Bonanza	Sourdough	Episode: "Top Hand"
1972	Bonanza	Tate Troy	Episode: "The Saddle Stiff" Episode: "He Was Only Seven"
1974	Honky Tonk	Driver	TV movie
1975	Strange New World	Elder	TV movie
1977	Roots	Slave Catcher	TV miniseries
1977	Little House on the Prairie	Wall	Episode: "Quarantine"
1981	The Texas Rangers	Ranger J.W. Stevens	TV movie
1981	A Few Days in Weasel Creek	Jason Stayvey	TV movie
1981	The Cherokee Trail	Ridge Fenton	TV movie
1983	Travis McGee	Van Harder	TV movie
1983	Ghost Dancing	Russ Ward	TV movie
1985	Wild Horses	Chuck Reese	TV movie
1985	Chase	Judge Grand Pettitt	TV movie Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
1985	Anne of Green Gables	Matthew Cuthbert	TV movie Gemini Award for Best Performance by a Supporting Actor
1987	CBS Summer Playhouse	Carl	Episode: "Travelin' Man"
1987	Highway to Heaven	Grandpa Jet Sanders	Episode: "A Dream of Wild Horses"
1989	Red Earth, White Earth	Helmer	TV movie
1989	Desperado: The Outlaw Wars	Sheriff Campbell, Bisby Arizona	TV movie
1992	The Boys of Twilight	Cody McPherson	TV series
1993	The Fire Next Time	Frank Morgan	TV movie
1998	Best Friends for Life	Will Harper	TV movie

External links

• Richard Farnsworth at the Internet Movie Database
• Richard Farnsworth at AllMovie
• Richard Farnsworth at Find a Grave
• Richard Farnsworth at NNDB
• Richard Farnsworth: The Man Who Talked Straight at Moviecrazed.com
• The Cowboy Kind Farnsworth wrote the foreword to this book by Darrell Arnold. Published posthumously in 2001.
• 1999 Disney Press Kit For The Straight Story with publicity photos
• 1998 Des Moines Register Article
• The Straight Story on Lynch Net Complete Film notes, interviews, photographs, audio and trailers 1999
• Obituary Cowboy's Way by Jeff Jensen, 2000