Jeff Bridges

Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor, singer, and producer. He comes from a prominent acting family and appeared on the television series Sea Hunt (1958–60), with his father, Lloyd Bridges and brother, Beau Bridges. He has won numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as an alcoholic singer in the 2009 film Crazy Heart.

This article is about the American actor. For the album, see Jeff Bridges (album). For the Colorado politician, see Jeff Bridges (politician).

Jeff Bridges
Bridges at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	Jeffrey Leon Bridges (1949-12-04) December 4, 1949 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor singer producer composer
Years active	1951–present
Spouse(s)	Susan Geston ( m. 1977)
Children	3
Parent(s)	Lloyd Bridges Dorothy Bridges
Family	Beau Bridges (brother) Jordan Bridges (nephew)
Awards	Full List

Bridges also earned Academy Award nominations for his roles in The Last Picture Show (1971), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), Starman (1984), The Contender (2000), True Grit (2010), and Hell or High Water (2016).

Early life

Jeffrey Leon Bridges was born on December 4, 1949, in Los Angeles, California. He is the son of actor Lloyd Bridges (1913–1998)[1][2] and actress and writer Dorothy Bridges (née Simpson; 1915–2009). His older brother Beau Bridges (born 1941) is also an actor. He has a younger sister Lucinda, and had another brother named Garrett who died of sudden infant death syndrome in 1948. His maternal grandfather was an immigrant from Liverpool in England.[3]

Bridges and his siblings were raised in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles.[4] He shared a close relationship with his brother Beau, who acted as a surrogate father when their father was working.[5] He graduated from University High School in 1967. At age 17, he toured with his father in a stage production of Anniversary Waltz, then moved to New York City where he studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio. He also served in the United States Coast Guard Reserve as a Boatswain's mate from 1967–1975 in San Luis Obispo, California, ending his service as a petty officer second class.[6][7]

Career

Film

Bridges at the event for The Giver in 2014

Bridges made his first screen appearance at the age of almost two years in The Company She Keeps in 1951. In his youth, Bridges and brother Beau made occasional appearances on their father's show Sea Hunt (1958–1961) and the CBS anthology series, The Lloyd Bridges Show (1962–1963). In 1969, he played Cal Baker, a Jobs Corps crew member, in the TV series Lassie episode "Success Story". In 1971, he played the lead role Mike in the TV movie In Search of America. His first major role came in the 1971 film The Last Picture Show, for which he garnered a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[8] He co-starred in the 1972 critically acclaimed neo-noir boxing film Fat City, directed by John Huston. In 1973 he starred as Junior Jackson in the film The Last American Hero based on the true story of NASCAR driver Junior Johnson. He was nominated again for Best Supporting Actor for his performance opposite Clint Eastwood in the 1974 film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.[8] In 1976, he starred as the protagonist Jack Prescott in the first remake of King Kong, opposite Jessica Lange. This film was a commercial success, earning $90 million worldwide, more than triple its $23 million budget, and also winning an Academy Award for special effects.

One of his better-known roles was in the 1982 science fiction film Tron, in which he played Kevin Flynn, a video game programmer (a role he reprised in late 2010 with the sequel Tron: Legacy). The same year (1982), he also starred in Kiss Me Goodbye, an American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Mulligan that also starred Sally Field. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1984, for playing the alien in Starman.[8] He was also acclaimed for his roles in the thriller Against All Odds (1984) and the crime drama Jagged Edge (1985). His role in Fearless (1993) is thought by some critics to be one of his best performances.[9] One critic dubbed it a masterpiece;[10] Pauline Kael wrote that he "may be the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived".[11] In 1994, he starred as Lt. Jimmy Dove in the action film Blown Away, opposite Tommy Lee Jones and Forest Whitaker. His real life father Lloyd Bridges also featured in the film, playing the uncle of Bridges' character. The film managed to recoup $30 million of its $50 million budget at the box office. It was up against another explosive-themed film, Speed, which had been released a few weeks before Bridges' film. On July 11, 1994, Bridges received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture industry. The star is located at 7065 Hollywood Boulevard.[12][13] In 1998, he starred as what is arguably his most famous role, The Dude, in the Coen brothers' film The Big Lebowski.[8]

In 2000, he received his fourth Academy Award nomination, for his role in The Contender.[8] He also starred in the 2005 Terry Gilliam film Tideland, his second with the director (the first being 1991's The Fisher King). He shaved his trademark[14] mane of hair to play the role of Obadiah Stane in the 2008 Marvel comic book adaptation Iron Man.[15] In July 2008, at the San Diego Comic-Con International, he appeared in a teaser for Tron: Legacy, shot as concept footage for director Joseph Kosinski; this developed into a full 3D feature release in 2010.

Bridges is one of the youngest actors ever to be nominated for an Academy Award (1972, age 22, Best Supporting Actor, The Last Picture Show), and one of the oldest ever to win (winning the Best Actor in 2010 at age 60 for Crazy Heart).[16] Crazy Heart also won him the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.

Bridges received his sixth Academy Award nomination for his role in True Grit, a collaboration with the Coen brothers in which he starred alongside Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, and Hailee Steinfeld. Both the film and Bridges' performance as Rooster Cogburn, were critically praised. Bridges lost to Colin Firth, whom he had beaten for the Oscar in the same category the previous year. In 2016, Bridges appeared in the film Hell or High Water, for which he received his seventh Academy Award nomination.

Music

Referring to his career as an actor and his passion for music, Bridges says, "I dug what an actor did, but it took me a while to feel it, to truly appreciate the craft and the preparation. Plus, I was still playing music a lot, and I guess I had a hard time choosing: was I an actor or a musician, or could I be both?"[17]

Bridges studied piano at a young age, strongly encouraged by his mother.[18] While working on the 1980 film Heaven's Gate, he often played guitar with his co-star, singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson, between takes. His character in Crazy Heart, Bad Blake, was later based partly on Kristofferson. In 1982 he did the voice of Prince Lír in the animated film The Last Unicorn, and in that role sang on two songs, one being a duet with Mia Farrow. He released his debut album Be Here Soon on January 1, 2000. In 2005, Bridges, known as "The Dude" in the film The Big Lebowski, showed up at a Lebowski Fest in Los Angeles singing and playing the film's theme song written by Bob Dylan, "Man in Me".

On January 15, 2010, Bridges performed the song "I Don't Know" from Crazy Heart on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. In the film The Contender, in which he co-starred, Bridges recorded a version of Johnny Cash's standard "Ring of Fire" with Kim Carnes that played over the pivotal opening credits. In February 2010, he was among the nearly 80 musicians to sing on the charity-single remake of We Are the World.[19] On October 24, 2010, Bridges appeared at Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit concert and played a set with singer-songwriter Neko Case.

On April 19, 2011, Country Music Television announced that Bridges had signed a recording contract with Blue Note Records/EMI Music Group. He worked with producer T-Bone Burnett and released his second album, Jeff Bridges, on August 16, 2011.[20] On November 5, 2011, Bridges played Austin City Limits in support of this album.[21]

In 2015 he sang on album Strangers Again with Judy Collins singing a duet of the musical tune from Candide by Leonard Bernstein called Make Our Garden Grow.

In 2015, Bridges released an ambient/spoken-word album entitled Sleeping Tapes.[22] All proceeds from the album go directly to Bridges' charity No Kid Hungry.[23]

Bridges plays many guitars, including the Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentlemen Model G6122-1959.[18]

Bridges at the premiere of The Men Who Stare at Goats, during the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

Other work

Author

In 2013, Bridges wrote The Dude and the Zen Master with Bernie Glassman.[24] Bridges found himself at a party with Glassman and Ram Dass and their conversation led to discussing the parallels between "The Dude" from The Big Lebowski and Zen Buddhism.[25] The book was formed from what has been described as a "transcript of a five-day "hang" on a Montana ranch."[26]

Photography

Bridges has been an amateur photographer since high school and began taking photographs on film sets during Starman, at the suggestion of co-star Karen Allen. Since 1980, he began photographing on and off set shots with his favorite camera, a Widelux F8.[27] He published many of these photographs online and published a book in 2003 entitled, Pictures: Photographs by Jeff Bridges.[28][29]

Narrator

Bridges narrated the documentary Lost in La Mancha (2002), about the making of a Terry Gilliam retelling of Don Quixote, tentatively titled The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, which would have starred Johnny Depp as Sancho Panza and Jean Rochefort as the quixotic hero. Bridges had previously appeared in Gilliam's The Fisher King. Bridges also narrated the documentaries National Geographic's Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West (2002, IMAX), Discovery Channel's Raising the Mammoth (2000), and ABC's Heroes of Rock and Roll (1979). He voiced the character Big Z in the animated picture Surf's Up. He also hosted VH1's Top 100 Greatest Albums of Rock and Roll series in 2001. In the Year 2016 He narrated the Movie Dream Big.

Bridges at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards

Bridges has performed TV commercial voiceover work as well, including Hyundai's 2007 "Think About It" advertising campaign[30] as well as the Duracell advertisements in the "Trusted Everywhere" campaign.[31]

On December 18, 2010, Bridges hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live; he had hosted the show before in 1983 with his brother, Beau. With the December 18, 2010, episode, Bridges beat Sigourney Weaver's record for longest gap between hosting appearances on SNL (Weaver had a 24-year gap between her first time hosting in 1986 and her second time hosting in 2010 while Bridges had a 27-year gap between his first appearance in 1983 and his most recent one, also in 2010).

Personal life

Bridges married Susan Geston in 1977.[32][33][34][35] They met while filming Rancho Deluxe, on a ranch where Geston was working as a waitress.[36][37][38][8][39] They have three daughters: Isabelle Annie (born August 6, 1981), Jessica Lily "Jessie" (born June 14, 1983), Haley Roselouise (born October 17, 1985),[40][41] and granddaughter Grace (born March 31, 2011) from Isabelle.

Bridges has studied Buddhism. He meditates for half an hour before beginning work on a film set.[42] He has learned Transcendental Meditation.

Philanthropy

In 1984, Bridges and other entertainment industry leaders founded the End Hunger Network aimed at encouraging, stimulating and supporting action to end childhood hunger.[43] He supported President Obama's initiative to End Childhood Hunger by 2015. In November 2010, Bridges became spokesman for the No Kid Hungry campaign of the organization Share our Strength.[44] Its goal is to present and undertake a state-by-state strategy to end childhood hunger in the United States by 2015.[45] Bridges also supports environmental causes and organizations such as the Amazon Conservation Team.[46][47]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	The Company She Keeps	Infant	Uncredited
1970	Halls of Anger	Douglas “Doug”
1971	The Last Picture Show	Duane Jackson	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
	The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go	Nero Finnighan
1972	Fat City	Ernie Munger
	Bad Company	Jake Rumsey
1973	Lolly-Madonna XXX	Zack Feather
	The Last American Hero	Elroy Jackson Jr.
	The Iceman Cometh	Don Parritt
1974	Thunderbolt and Lightfoot	Lightfoot	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1975	Rancho Deluxe	Jack McKee
	Hearts of the West	Lewis Tater
1976	Stay Hungry	Craig Blake
	King Kong	Jack Prescott
1978	Somebody Killed Her Husband	Jerry Green
1979	Winter Kills	Nick Kegan
	The American Success Company	Harry Flowers
1980	Heaven's Gate	John L. Bridges
1981	Cutter's Way	Richard Bone
1982	Tron	Kevin Flynn / CLU
	Kiss Me Goodbye	Dr. Rupert Baines
	The Last Unicorn	Prince Lír (voice)
1984	Against All Odds	Terry Brogan
	Starman	Scott Hayden / Starman	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
1985	Jagged Edge	Jack Forrester
1986	8 Million Ways to Die	Matthew "Matt" Scudder
	The Morning After	Turner Kendall
1987	Nadine	Vernon Hightower
1988	Tucker: The Man and His Dream	Preston Tucker
1989	See You in the Morning	Larry Livingstone
	The Fabulous Baker Boys	Jack Baker
1990	Texasville	Duane Jackson
1991	The Fisher King	Jack Lucas
1992	American Heart	Jack Kelson	Also producer
1993	The Vanishing	Barney Cousins
	Fearless	Max Klein
1994	Blown Away	Jimmy Dove / Liam McGivney
1995	Wild Bill	James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok
1996	White Squall	Captain Christopher "Skipper" Sheldon
	The Mirror Has Two Faces	Gregory Larkin
1998	The Big Lebowski	Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski
1999	Arlington Road	Michael Faraday
	The Muse	Jack Warrick
	Simpatico	Lyle Carter
2000	The Contender	President Jackson Evans	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
2001	Scenes of the Crime	Jimmy Berg
	K-PAX	Dr. Mark Powell
2002	Lost in La Mancha	Narrator (voice)	Documentary
2003	Masked and Anonymous	Tom Friend
	Seabiscuit	Charles S. Howard
2004	The Door in the Floor	Ted Cole
2005	The Amateurs	Andy
	Tideland	Noah
2006	Stick It	Burt Vickerman
2007	Surf's Up	Ezekiel 'Big Z' Topanga / Geek (voice)
2008	Iron Man	Obadiah Stane / Iron Monger
	How to Lose Friends & Alienate People	Clayton Harding
2009	The Open Road	Kyle
	Crazy Heart	Otis "Bad" Blake	Also executive producer; Academy Award for Best Actor
	The Men Who Stare at Goats	Bill Django
2010	Tron: Legacy	Kevin Flynn / CLU 2
	True Grit	Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
2011	Tron: The Next Day	Kevin Flynn / CLU 2
2012	A Place at the Table	Narrator (voice)	Documentary
2013	R.I.P.D.	Roycephus "Roy" Pulsipher
	Pablo	Narrator (voice) / Professor
2014	The Giver	The Giver	Also producer
	Seventh Son	Master Gregory
2015	The Little Prince	The Aviator (voice)
2016	Hell or High Water	Marcus Hamilton	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
2017	Dream Big	Narrator (voice)	Documentary
	The Only Living Boy in New York	W.F. Gerald	Also executive producer
	Kingsman: The Golden Circle	Champagne "Champ"
	Only the Brave	Duane Steinbrink
2018	Bad Times at the El Royale	Father Daniel Flynn / Donald "Dock" O'Reilly
	Living in the Future's Past	Narrator (voice)	Documentary; also producer
2019	Spider-Man: Far From Home	Obadiah Stane / Iron Monger (uncredited)	Archive footage from Iron Man (2008)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958–1960	Sea Hunt	Davey Crane / Jimmy / Boy / Kelly Bailey	4 episodes
1962–1963	The Lloyd Bridges Show	Various characters	3 episodes
1965	The Loner	Bud Windom	Episode: "The Ordeal of Bud Windom"
1969	The F.B.I.	Terry Shelton	Episode: "Boomerang"
	Lassie	Cal Baker	Episode: "Success Story"
	Silent Night, Lonely Night	John Young	Television film
1970	The Don Knotts Show	Himself	1 episode
	The Most Deadly Game	Hawk	Episode: "Nightbirds"
1971	In Search of America	Mike Olson	Television film
1981	Great Performances	Michael Loomis	Episode: "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses and Other Stories"
1983	Faerie Tale Theatre	Claude / Prince	Episode: "Rapunzel"
1983, 2010	Saturday Night Live	Himself / Host	Episode: "Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges/Randy Newman" Episode: "Jeff Bridges/Eminem and Lil Wayne"
1996	Hidden in America	Vincent	Television film; also executive producer	2000	Raising the Mammoth	Narrator	Discovery Channel Special
2008	A Dog Year	Jon Katz	Television film
2020	The Old Man	David Chase	Upcoming series, main cast

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Jeff Bridges

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions				Sales
		US Country [48]	US [48]	US Folk [49]	US Rock [49]
Be Here Soon	Release date: January 1, 2000 Label: Ramp Records Formats: CD	–	–	–	–
Jeff Bridges	Release date: August 16, 2011 Label: Blue Note Records Formats: CD, music download	10	25	2	5	US: 345,000[50]
Sleeping Tapes	Release date: January 28, 2015 Label: Squarespace Formats: CD, music download	–	–	–	–
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Album
2011	"What a Little Bit of Love Can Do"	Jeff Bridges

Music videos

Year	Title	Director
2011	"What a Little Bit of Love Can Do"	Alan Kozlowski

See also

• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees

References

1. "Actress Dorothy Bridges dies, Mother of Beau and Jeff Bridges was 93". Variety. February 20, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
2. "Jeff Bridges Biography (1949–)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
3. Russell, Sue (2001). "Jeffrey Bridges". suerussellwrites.com. Hello! magazine, UK. Archived from the original on November 6, 2002. Retrieved March 30, 2014. Hollywood's quiet family man is happiest at home in Santa Barbara with wife Susan and their three daughters
4. McLellan, Dennis (February 21, 2009). "Dorothy Bridges dies at 93; 'the hub' of an acting family". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
5. "Jeff Bridges is still the Dude". Archived from the original on September 27, 2012.
6. "Jeff Bridges Biography". thespiannet. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
7. "Shadow box". Coastguard.togetherweserved.com. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
8. Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2003
9. "100 Essential Male Film Performances: Part 4 – From the Page to the Screen".
10. "Fearless — A movie masterpiece about transcendence". Archived from the original on June 30, 2006.
11. Philip French (August 6, 2006). "Here's looking back at you". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
12. "Jeff Bridges". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
13. "Jeff Bridges". latimes.com. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
14. Kepnes, E! Online. "Jeff Bridges Shaves Head, Talks Iron Man". E! Online. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
15. "Iron Man — Official Site". Archived from the original on January 6, 2010.
16. Bridges, Jeff (guest) (June 24, 2004). "'The Door in the Floor': Actor Jeff Bridges". USA Today. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
17. Guitar Aficionado Magazine – Spring 2010
18. Gretsch Guitars: Jeff Bridges. YouTube. July 20, 2011.
19. "'We Are The World – 25 For Haiti' Artists Include Kanye West, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber".
20. "CMT : News : Jeff Bridges signs to Blue Note Records". Country Music Television. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
21. "Video: Miranda Lambert / Jeff Bridges Watch Austin City Limits Online PBS Video". Retrieved May 13, 2012.
22. "Jeff Bridges-Sleeping tapes". www.dreamingwithjeff.com. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
23. "Jeff Bridges Lulls Listeners to Bed With New Album 'Sleeping Tapes'". Rolling Stone. January 28, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
24. "Jeff Bridges On Zen Buddhism And 'The Big Lebowski'". On Point. January 8, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
25. "Jeff Bridges On The Zen Message In 'The Big Lebowski'". The Huffington Post. February 2, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
26. Oppenheimer, Mark (January 6, 2013). "If Lebowski Calls, Will You Be in? Or Out Bowling?". The New York Times. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
27. "Photography". JeffBridges.com. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
28. Bridges, Jeff (September 1, 2004). Pictures. New York, N.Y.: powerHouse Books. ISBN 1-57687-177-0. OCLC 55227934.
29. "Pictures: Photographs by Jeff Bridges : Sam Elliott and Jeff Bridges – "The Stranger" and "The Dude" – The Big Lebowski (1998)". FILE Magazine. 2004. Archived from the original on October 30, 2004. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
30. "Oscars: Hyundai debuts clever Academy Awards ad with Jeff Bridges' actor friends". Theweeklydriver.com. March 6, 2010. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
31. Samaniego, Danielle. "Name That Voice: Ten Celebrity Commercial Voice-Overs". Divinecaroline.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2010. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
32. "Jeff Bridges Unbelievable Love Story—and the Photo to Prove It". oprah.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
33. Dana, Rebecca (March 10, 2010). "A True Hollywood Love Story". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
34. Rasmussen, Randy. "Rasmussen: About my cousin, Susan". rapidcityjournal.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
35. "Jeff Bridges bought and lives inside a crazy set from one of his old movies". businessinsider.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
36. D'AMBROSIO, BRIAN. "Jeff Bridges talks Montana ties ahead of Missoula concert". missoulian.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
37. "THR Cover: Jeff Bridges' Revealing New Interview". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
38. "Photo Captures Jeff Bridges' Fateful First Meeting With His True Love". December 7, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2017 – via Huff Post.
39. "Jeff Bridges: On Marriage". Reader's Digest. February 2006. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved September 9, 2008.
40. "Betty White, Jeff Bridges scoop up Britannia Awards". latimes.com. November 5, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
41. "Happy Birthday, Jeff Bridges! You're 61 Today, December 4!". Hollywood Life. December 4, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
42. Butler, Katy (Fall 2010). "The Natural – How Jeff Bridges works with anxiety and maintaining a joyful mind". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. 20 (1): 54.
43. "Jeff Bridges: Charity Work & Causes". Look to the Stars. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
44. "End Hunger". JeffBridges.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
45. "Jeff Bridges to Launch Campaign Against Childhood Hunger in National Press Club Address". PRNewswire. November 5, 2010. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
46. "Video: Why Does Jeff Bridges Support the Amazon Conservation Team?". Retrieved October 27, 2014.
47. "Why does Jeff Bridges support the Amazon Conservation Team?". Amazon Conservation Team. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
48. "Chart News August 24: Country Dominates as Luke Bryan Still Top Dawg". Roughstock. Archived from the original on November 4, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
49. "Chart listing for Jeff Bridges". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
50. Gallo, Phil (August 20, 2011). "The Dude Abides" (PDF). American Radio History (Billboard Archive). p. 31. Retrieved May 21, 2019.

External links

• Jeff Bridges on IMDb
• Jeff Bridges at Rotten Tomatoes
• Jeff Bridges at AllMovie
• Official website
• Jeff Bridges at Emmys.com