Richard Farnsworth (September 1, 1920 - October 6, 2000) was an American actor. Born in Los Angeles, California, he began his film career as a stunt man, performing several horse riding stunts in such films as the Marx Brothers' A Day at the Races at the age of 17. He received his first credit as "Dick Farnsworth" in Texas Across the River in 1966. Farnsworth's career was largely in Western films, although he did appear in the television miniseries Roots and in 1985 he appeared in the Canadian miniseries Anne of Green Gables, winning a Gemini Award for his performance as Matthew Cuthbert.
In 1979 Farnsworth was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Comes a Horseman and in 1999 he was nominated for Best Actor for The Straight Story.
Richard 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.
Having been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Farnsworth committed suicide by shooting himself at his ranch in Lincoln, New Mexico. He is interred with his wife in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
The Straight Story (1999)
