Entertainment

Oscar Nominee Dead At 80

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 7, 2000 / 12:53 AM EDT / CBS

Richard Farnsworth, the oldest actor to get an Academy Award nomination for a leading part, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Friday, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department said.

He was 80, and had been suffering from cancer.

Farnsworth, a former stuntman, was nominated earlier this year for an Oscar for best actor for his performance in The Straight Story.

He had been involved in filmmaking for more than 60 years and recently received a special award from the National Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, Texas, for his work.

Sheriff Tom Sullivan released a statement Friday night saying Farnsworth died at his home in Lincoln, about 250 miles southeast of Albuquerque. Police did not release any further details.

Farnsworth was nominated this year for his portrayal of Alvin Straight, an Iowa man who made headlines in 1994 for riding his lawnmower more than 250 miles to see his ailing, estranged brother.

"I admired him very much and tried to be as much like his character as I could," he told The Associated Press last March. "I talked to two of his boys, who are now truck drivers, and we filmed along his actual route. Every time we stopped somewhere, people would come by and say, 'Heck, I remember when old Alvin came through,' and tell us about it."

He was beaten out by Kevin Spacey, who won for his portrayal of a suburban father in American Beauty.

"It feels a lot better because I'm getting up there in age and might not have a chance again," he said in an interview after he was nominated in February.

Anyone who's watched television or gone to the movies in the past 63 years is likely to have caught at least some of Farnsworth's work. He had some 60 different roles as an actor and another long list as a Hollywood stuntman, doubling for actors ranging from Roy Rogers to Gary Cooper.

In addition to The Straight Story, Farnsworth's silver screen credits include:

Lassie (1994)
The Getaway (1994)
Fire Next Time (1993)
Wild West (1993)
The Fire Next Time, Part 1 (1992)
The Fire Next Time, Part 2 (1992)
Highway to Hell (1991)
Havana (1990)
Misery (1990)
The Two Jakes (1990)
Desperado: The Outlaw Wars (1989)
Red Earth, White Earth (1989)
Good Old Boy (1988)
The Dead Pool (1988)
Witchery (1988)
Anne of Avonlea (1987)
Nadine (1987)
No Way Out (1987)
The Big Easy (1987)
Space Rage (1986)
Anne of Green Gables (1985)
Chase (1985)
Falling for the Stars (1985)
Into the Night (1985)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Sylvester (1985)
Rhinestone (1984)
The Natural (1984)
Wild Horses (1984)
Empty Copper Sea (1983)
Ghost Dancing (1983)
Independence Day (1983)
Travis McGee (1983)
Waltz Across Texas (1983)
The Grey Fox (1982)
A Few Days in Weasel Creek (1981)
Ruckus (1981)
The Legend of te Lone Ranger (1981)
Resurrection (1980)
Tom Horn (1980)
Comes a Horseman (1978)
Un Autre Homme Une Autre Chance (1977)
The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976)
Rooster Cogburn (1975)
Strange New World (1975)
The Soul of Nigger Charley (1973)
Pocket Money (1972)
The Cowboys (1972)
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
Ulzana's Raid (1972)
Monte Walsh (1970)
Duel at Diablo (1966)
Texas Across the River (1966)

Farnsworth was also a familiar face on television, with roles on Highway to Heaven, Bonanza, Cimmaron Strip, The Big Valley, Wanted: Dead or Alive, and Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock.

As a boy, Farnsworth was a poor student who dropped out of school during the Depression at age 15 and went to work as a stable boy at a polo barn.

That turned out to be a good career move.

Two years later, in 1937, two men from the Paramount studio came by looking for ponies and mentioned they needed someone who could ride horses on film. Farnsworth took the job, which paid $7 a day, about what he had been making per week.

That started his 40-year career as a stand-in and stuntman. He worked mostly on Westerns, and he doubled stars such as Roy Rogers and Gary Cooper.

Farnsworth was hired for 1978's Comes a Horseman to ride and rope cows, but director Alan J. Pakula added to the part. Farnsworth ended up with his first and only other Oscar nomination, for best supporting actor.

His 50-year-old son, Diamond Farnsworth, followed in his father's footsteps and has become a top stuntman whose credits include doubling for Sylvester Stallone in the first two Rambo movies.

In 1990, Farnsworth moved out of his home of 40 years in the Hollywood Hills and came to the outskirts of Lincoln, a town of 565 in the foothills of two mountain ranges that is known for Billy the Kid's famous escape.

When Farnsworth turned 78, he had to start using a cane to walk because of a weak left hip. Despite his condition, he accepted the role in The Straight Story.

Aside from his recent work on the movie, he had spent much of his time sitting on his well-worn sofa and watching old Westerns on TV.