Yellowstone's Wilford Brimley Tribute Explained

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In terms of modern Western storytelling, be it on the big screen or small screen, it's hard to find anything that has had a bigger impact than "Yellowstone." Created by Taylor Sheridan and starting life as an upper-tier cable channel series that nobody much cared about, it soon became one of the biggest shows on television, generating an entire universe of spin-offs. So, even getting mentioned on "Yellowstone" was by no means insignificant. As such, the series' Wilford Brimley tribute in season 3 was a big deal, even if it was, on the surface, a little confusing.

Brimley, star of "The Thing" and "Cocoon," passed away at the age of 85 in 2020. His career spanned decades and included many classic movies, not to mention a memorable series of commercials for people of a certain age relating to diabetes awareness. Then, just a couple of weeks after the actor's passing, the "Yellowstone" season 3 episode "Meaner Than Evil" aired, and it included a tribute to the actor that reads as follows:

"In loving memory of Wilford Brimley; A cowboy, an artist, and a damn good friend."

"Yellowstone" season 3 is the best-rated season of the show, making the tribute a little more special, in retrospect. But the confusion comes in because, rather notably, Brimley never appeared on the show. He also didn't consult on the series, nor did he have any clear, direct ties to any of the show's core cast members or Sheridan. It begs the question: Why was this tribute to the actor included in the episode at all?

Put plainly, Sheridan and everyone else behind "Yellowstone" clearly felt that Brimley, through his body of work, had earned that tribute. They simply wanted to pay their respects to a legendary actor, and understandably so.

Wilford Brimley's body of work is nothing shy of impressive and ates back to the late 1960s. As it relates to "Yellowstone" and his work in the Western genre, the actor's first role (albeit a minor one) came in the 1969 John Wayne classic "True Grit." Brimley went on to amass a fair amount of additional credits within the genre over the course of his career, including shows like "The Oregon Trail," "How the West Was Won," and "Walker Texas Ranger." Meanwhile, on the movie side of things, he appeared in "Rodeo Girl," "Tender Mercies," "Billy the Kid," and "Crossfire Trail."

Beyond that, though, Brimley's acting career was straight-up impressive. He had roles in everything from the classic baseball film "The Natural" to the acclaimed '90s comedy "In & Out," as well as Sydney Pollack's "Absence of Mallace." It's an enviable career and, beyond that, Brimley was evidently one of those guys who navigated Hollywood without making enemies. Rather, he did the work and did good work at that. If that's not worth paying tribute to, what is?

"Yellowstone" season 4 did cause some confusion amongst fans when actor Barry Corbin was confused for Brimley. And while one can see why some people would mix up the pair, this was well after Brimley's passing, making it all the more confusing. Nevertheless, that had nothing to do with Brimley's tribute. It was simply something relevant at the time that "Meaner Than Evil" aired and served as a way to give a much-deserving actor his flowers.

You can pick up "Yellowstone: The Complete Series" on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon.