Richard Farnsworth

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Richard William Farnsworth (born September 1, 1920 in Los Angeles , California - † October 6, 2000 in Lincoln , New Mexico ) was an American actor . After working as a stuntman in the film business for decades , he also achieved recognition as a character actor at an advanced age and received two Oscar nominations.

life and career

Early life and stunt work

Born and raised in Los Angeles in the immediate vicinity of the major Hollywood studios of the 1920s, Richard Farnsworth came into contact with the film business at an early age. He dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and then made his way as a rodeo rider.

The then 17-year-old first appeared in front of the camera as a stunt rider in 1937 for the Marx Brothers comedy One Day at the Race . His talent as a stuntman was used in various monumental films in the following decades. In 1939 he worked for David O. Selznick in Gone With the Wind , in 1956 for Cecil B. DeMille in The Ten Commandments and 1960 for Stanley Kubrick in Spartacus , in the latter film he was one of the charioteers. Through his work as a stuntman, he was able to make numerous contacts and also received extra roles , which, however, were without any acting substance. He was also a stuntman for various western series on US television and was sometimes even paid better than the actual actor.

Success as an actor

As he got older, as his athleticism waned, Farnsworth tried to get into acting. From the late 1950s he got smaller speaking roles in films, especially westerns. It wasn't until the 1970s, when he was already over 50 years old, that he slowly made a name for himself in the genre with films like No Mercy for Ulzana and The Wilde Wild West . He had his greatest success to date as a supporting actor in A Farm in Montana , directed by Alan J. Pakula , in which he played an aging ranch worker. For his performance alongside James Caan and Jane Fonda , Farnsworth has received numerous film awards such as the National Board of Review Award and has also been nominated for an Oscar.

The actor achieved further fame with the audience through roles in television series such as Roots and Anne on Green Gables . In the early 1980s Farnsworth left the western genre and also played in dramas such as Daniel Petries The Strong Will and 1984 in the sports film The Unbending with Robert Redford and Glenn Close . He played his first leading role as an elegant bank robber in the 1984 western The Gray Fox , which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award .

In 1990 he met his colleague James Caan again when they were both in front of the camera for Rob Reiner in Misery , the film adaptation of Stephen King's novel You . In the same year Richard Farnsworth played under director Sydney Pollack a professor in the drama Havana and Earl Rawley in Jack Nicholson's The Track Back - The Two Jakes .

In 1999 David Lynch cast the actor in his drama A True Story - The Straight Story . For his convincing portrayal of the pensioner Alvin Straight , who makes his 390 kilometer journey to his sick brother with a ride-on lawnmower, Farnsworth has again received numerous film prizes such as the Independent Spirit Award and the New York Film Critics Circle Award . He was also nominated for a second Oscar, this time for Best Actor , but lost to Kevin Spacey in American Beauty .

Private life and death

Farnsworth was married to Margaret Hill from 1947 until her death in 1985, the couple had two children. After her death, he moved to a ranch in Lincoln , New Mexico . At the time of his death, he had a fiancée, flight attendant Jewely Van Valin.

Long before the filming of The Straight Story , Farnsworth had been diagnosed with incurable cancer, which caused him great pain and restricted his freedom of movement more and more. In October 2000, 80-year-old Farnsworth shot himself to death on his ranch in New Mexico. According to relatives, the consequences of the cancer were the reason for Farnsworth's suicide . The actor was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard Farnsworth | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved August 16, 2019 (American English).
  2. ^ Richard Farnsworth | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved August 16, 2019 (American English).
  3. ^ Richard Farnsworth | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved August 16, 2019 (American English).
  4. ↑ His Own Way. Retrieved on August 16, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Richard Farnsworth dies of self-inflicted gunshot wound. October 7, 2000, accessed August 16, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Farnsworth, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Farnsworth, Richard William (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH los Angeles
DATE OF DEATH October 6, 2000
Place of death Lincoln (New Mexico)