‘The View’ Co-Host Meghan McCain Mourns Wilford Brimley

The View co-host Meghan McCain mourned the death of actor Wilford Brimley, who died Saturday at age 85. She shared a photo of Brimley with her father, the late Sen. John McCain, taken when Brimley joined the Arizona senator on the 2008 presidential campaign trail. McCain called Brimley a “true original” and a “patriot.”

“I am very sad to hear of Wilford Brimley’s passing. He was a very early and passionate supporter of my Dad’s,” McCain wrote Saturday night on Instagram. “I had the privilege of spending time with him on the trail, including a special ‘No Surrender’ bus tour he led in New Hampshire with fellow veterans – he was a marine himself.” McCain sent her “love, prayers and strength” to Brimley’s family and thanked them for the experiences she shared with him.

“I always thought it was amazing that he was a ranch hand and a blacksmith before becoming a Hollywood actor,” McCain concluded. “He was a true original, a patriot, and an iconic performer whose contributions to American film and culture will never be forgotten.” Many of McCain’s followers agreed with her sentiments. “Sorry to hear this. It’s been a rough couple of weeks, for sure,” one fan wrote.

McCain was not the only star to remember Brimley. “Wilford Brimley was a wonderful man and actor. I had the great pleasure of working with him. He always made me laugh,” Barbara Hershey wrote. “He was in fact like a grandpa to me for a very long time. He was talented and will be missed,” Shannen Doherty, who worked with Brimley on Our House, wrote.

Brimley was best known for his roles in the movies The Thing, The Natural, Cocoon, Tender Mercies, and The Firm. He also starred in Quaker Oats commercials during the 1980s and 1990s. He also served as a spokesman for Liberty Mutual, which provided diabetes testing supplies. Brimley spent part of his time raising awareness of diabetes after he was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus in 1979. His representative told TMZ he died Saturday morning at his Utah home.

In 2008, Brimley was among John McCain’s celebrity supporters, campaigning for the senator even before he won the Republican nomination that year. “The reason I’m here is because I think John McCain is a good, honest, patriotic American. He’s proven that with his actions,” Brimley said of McCain during a New Hampshire campaign stop. McCain also joked with reporters, “He can take on Chuck Norris two calls out of three.”