Biography
Though acclaimed veteran actor Jeff Bridges was born into a Hollywood family, he proved his own merit as a star several times over. The son of actors Lloyd and Dorothy Bridges, Bridges was born in Los Angeles in 1949. As children, he and his brother Beau occasionally appeared in small roles on their father's TV series "Sea Hunt" (CBS, 1958-1961) and "The Lloyd Bridges Show" (CBS, 1962-63), and by age 17, he was touring with his father in a production of "Anniversary Waltz." When the tour wrapped, Bridges struck out on his own, studying acting at the Herbert Bergdorf Studio before beginning to actively pursue film roles. He also enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, serving from 1967 to 1975. Bridges made guest appearances on shows like "Lassie" (CBS, 1954-1974) before landing his breakout role as Duane Jackson in Peter Bogdonovich's acclaimed film "The Last Picture Show" (1971), for which he earned his first Oscar nomination. Soon, he was taking direction from legendary filmmaker John Huston with a prominent supporting role in the boxing film "Fat City" (1972). Bridges next starred as a NASCAR driver in in "The Last American Hero" (1973) before earning yet another Oscar nod for his performance alongside Clint Eastwood in the crime comedy "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" (1974). In 1975, Bridges appeared in a contemporary Western called "Rancho Deluxe" (1975) and while filming the movie in Montana, met a waitress named Susan Geston, whom he married later that year. The couple would maintain a home in Montana despite Bridges' demands in Hollywood for decades to come. Less than a year after his wedding, Bridges starred in the blockbuster remake of "King Kong" (1976), cementing his place in Hollywood as a major star. As the '80s began, he starred in the groundbreaking science fiction adventure "TRON" (1982) and later earned his third Academy Award nomination for his performance in the sci-fi drama "Starman" (1984). As the decade progressed, he would make waves in films like "Against All Odds" (1984), "Jagged Edge" (1985), and "The Fabulous Baker Boys" (1989). By the '90s, Bridges was long established as both a bankable movie star and a true actor's actor. He worked with the respected director Peter Weir in the drama "Fearless" (1993) and starred as legendary cowboy Wild Bill Hickok in the aptly titled "Wild Bill" (1995). But perhaps one of Bridges' most iconic roles came in 1998 when he played Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski in the Coen Brothers' film "The Big Lebowski" (1998). Bridges' performance as the lackadaisical character struck a huge chord with audiences and quickly became an enduring classic. He continued to find compelling roles in the following decade, earning another Academy Award nomination for his role in the political drama "The Contender" (2001) and reteaming with Terry Gilliam for the hallucinatory drama "Tideland" (2005). Bridges joined the Marvel universe as villain Obadiah Stane in "Iron Man" (2008) and finally won an Oscar in 2010 for his critically acclaimed performance as a troubled country musician in "Crazy Heart" (2010). The following year found Bridges working with the Coen brothers again, this time playing Rooster Cogburn in a lauded remake of the Western "True Grit" (2011) that earned him still another Oscar nomination. He won similar accolades for his performance as a Texas Ranger in the neo-Western "Hell or High Water" (2016)-the basis for his seventh Oscar nod. Bridges went on to join the "Kingsmen" action franchise with a role in "Kingsmen: The Golden Circle" (2018) and memorably appeared in the ensemble thriller "Bad Times at the El Royale" (2018).
