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Quick Facts
- NAME: Richard Farnsworth
- OCCUPATION: Film Actor, Television Actor
- BIRTH DATE: September 01, 1920
- DEATH DATE: October 06, 2000
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Los Angeles, California
- PLACE OF DEATH: Lincoln, New Mexico
Best Known For
Richard Farnsworth was a stuntman for 30 years before he started his career as an actor. He is best known for his performance in The Grey Fox (1982).
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Play NowRichard Farnsworth. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:13, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/richard-farnsworth-9542286.
Richard Farnsworth. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/richard-farnsworth-9542286 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"Richard Farnsworth." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 06:13 http://www.biography.com/people/richard-farnsworth-9542286.
"Richard Farnsworth," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/richard-farnsworth-9542286 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"Richard Farnsworth," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/richard-farnsworth-9542286 (accessed May 24, 2013).
Richard Farnsworth [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/richard-farnsworth-9542286.
Richard Farnsworth, http://www.biography.com/people/richard-farnsworth-9542286 (last visited May 24, 2013).
Richard Farnsworth. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/richard-farnsworth-9542286. Accessed May 24, 2013.
Foray into Television
Farnsworth made several attempts to branch out as a series regular on network TV, he made two unsuccessful pilot Westerns in 1981 and the short-lived Boys of Twilight, co-starring Wilford Brimley, in 1992. He found a measure of success with TV movies, including Travis McGee (1983); Wild Horses (1985); Chase (1985),Contents
for which he was nominated
for a Golden Globe; the miniseries The Fire Next Time (1993); and a
leading turn in Best Friends for Life (1998).
After a number of relatively minor roles in largely disappointing
films, including Highway to Hell (1992), Lassie (1994), and The Getaway
(1994), starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, Farnsworth emerged with
his most acclaimed performance yet, in The Straight Story (1999),
directed by David Lynch and co-starring Sissy Spacek. For his portrayal
of Alvin Straight, an Iowa man who in 1994 drove a lawnmower several
hundred miles to visit his estranged, ailing brother. the 79-year-old
Farnsworth earned a Golden Globe nod as well as an Academy Award
nomination for Best Actor, becoming the oldest actor ever to be
nominated in that category.
Personal Life
Farnsworth's wife, Margaret, died in 1985 after 38 years of marriage. The couple had a son, Hill (who is now a top stunt performer in Hollywood) and a daughter, Melissa. He lived on a ranch in Lincoln, New Mexico. On October 6, 2000, Farnsworth took his own life after a long struggle with terminal cancer. He was 80 years old.© 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.
profile name: Richard Farnsworth profile occupation:
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