Shannen Doherty paid tribute to her friend and late co-star Wilford Brimley shortly after his death this week at age 85.
The actress appeared alongside Brimley in the 1986 NBC drama “Our House.” The show aired for two seasons and focused on Brimley's character as a retired widower who invites his daughter-in-law and her three children to move in with him following the death of his son.
Shortly after news of Brimley's death broke, Doherty took to Instagram to eulogize him and fondly remember their time working together on the show.
“I met Wilford when we did Our House together. He taught me a lot on that show. He also gave me a horse named Brownie. Taught me how to ski in Utah. Had 2 African Grey’s that would curse and call his dogs only to laugh at them when they came running,” she wrote. “He gave big hugs and told great jokes. He was in fact like a grandpa to me for a very long time. He was talented and will be missed. Wilford.”
The heartfelt caption came along a black-and-white still from the show that captured a teenage Doherty standing alongside Brimley as he operates a model train.
Brimley’s manager, Lynda Bensky, said the actor died Saturday morning at a hospital in his home state of Utah. He was on dialysis and had several medical ailments, she said.
“Wilford Brimley was a man you could trust,” Bensky said in a statement. “He said what he meant and he meant what he said. He had a tough exterior and a tender heart. I’m sad that I will no longer get to hear my friend’s wonderful stories. He was one of a kind.”
The mustached Brimley was a familiar face for a number of roles, often playing characters like his grizzled baseball manager in “The Natural” opposite Robert Redford's bad-luck phenomenon. He also worked with Redford in “Brubaker” and “The Electric Horseman.”
Brimley's best-known work was in “Cocoon,” in which he was part of a group of seniors who discover an alien pod that rejuvenates them. The 1985 Ron Howard film won two Oscars, including a supporting actor honor for Don Ameche.
Brimley also starred in “Cocoon: The Return,” a 1988 sequel.
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A Utah native who grew up around horses, Brimley spent two decades traveling around the West and working at ranches and race tracks. He drifted into movie work during the 1960s, riding in such films as “True Grit,” and appearing in TV series such as “Gunsmoke."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.