Jeff Bridges

Jeffrey Leon Bridges was born on December 4, 1949, in Los Angeles, California, the son of well-known film and TV star Lloyd Bridges and his long-time wife Dorothy Dean Bridges (née Simpson). He grew up amid the active Hollywood scene with his older brother Beau Bridges. Both boys appeared, without billing, alongside their mother in the film The Company She Keeps (1951), and occasionally appeared with their famous father on his popular underwater TV series Sea Hunt (1958) during their childhood. At age 14, Jeff toured with his father in a stage production of "Anniversary Waltz." His teenage years were marked by difficulties, particularly with drugs and marijuana, which led to family intervention. He recovered and began shaping his young adult career, appearing on TV as a younger version of his father in the acclaimed TV movie Silent Night, Lonely Night (1969), and in the unusual Burgess Meredith film The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go (1974). Following favorable notices for his portrayal of a white student involved in the racially themed Halls of Anger (1970), his breakthrough came a year later with a coming-of-age role in the critically acclaimed ensemble film The Last Picture Show (1971). Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, the film made stars of its young leads (Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Shepherd) and Oscar winners of its older cast (Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman). The role of Duane Jackson earned Jeff his first Oscar nomination (for "Best Supporting Actor") and set the tone for the types of roles he would become known for—rambling, reckless, rascally, and usually unpredictable. With a casual, carefree handsomeness and a perpetual grin and sly charm, he embarked on an intriguing 1970s journey into offbeat roles. These included a boxer on the rise opposite a declining Stacy Keach in Fat City (1972); a Civil War-era conman in the western Bad Company (1972); a redneck stock car racer in The Last American Hero (1973); a young student anarchist in the company of a stellar veteran cast in Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh (1973); a bank-robbing sidekick (also Oscar-nominated) to Clint Eastwood in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974); an aimless cattle rustler in Rancho Deluxe (1975); a low-level western writer who wants to be a real-life cowboy in Hearts of the West (1975); and the brother of an assassinated President who pursues leads to the crime in Winter Kills (1979). All are notable characters that should have propelled him to the top of stardom—but strangely did not. Perhaps it was his trademark ease and naturalistic approach that made him somewhat underappreciated at a time when Hollywood was dominated by the intense styles of actors like Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino. Nevertheless, Jeff remained a scene-stealing favorite into the next decade, notably as a video game programmer in the 1982 science-fiction cult classic Tron (1982), and as the struggling musician brother vying with his brother Beau Bridges for the attention of singer Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989). He became a third-time Oscar nominee with his intriguing (and strangely sexy) portrayal of a blank-faced alien in Starman (1984), and earned even higher regard as the ever-optimistic inventor Preston Tucker in Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988). Since then, Jeff has continued to deliver compelling performances in film. Few actors enjoy such an enduring popularity while maintaining equal respect from critics. The Fisher King (1991), American Heart (1992), Fearless (1993), The Big Lebowski (1998) (now a cult phenomenon), and The Contender (2000) (which earned him a fourth Oscar nomination) are prime examples. More recently, he seized the moment as a bald-pated villain opposite Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man (2008), and then, at age 60, he capped his rewarding career by winning the elusive Oscar, along with the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards (among many others), for his portrayal of a down-and-out country singer, Bad Blake, in Crazy Heart (2009). Bridges next starred in Tron: Legacy (2010), reprising one of his more famous roles, and received another Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his role in the Western remake True Grit (2010). In 2014, he co-produced and starred in an adaptation of the Lois Lowry science fiction drama The Giver (2014). Jeff has been married since 1977 to non-professional Susan Geston (they met on the set of Rancho Deluxe (1975)). The couple has three daughters: Isabelle (born 1981), Jessica (born 1983), and Hayley (born 1985). He enjoys photography both on and off his film sets, and has also dabbled in cartooning and pop music. His ancestry includes English, with smaller amounts of Scots-Irish (Northern Irish), Irish, Swiss-German, and German.