Happy Birthday: Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges

Born: December 4, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA

Married to: Susan Bridges (5 June 1977 – present) (3 children)

[on his father, actor Lloyd Bridges] My father, unlike his father, was very supportive of all his kids getting involved in movies and acting in general. He loved what he did and wanted to turn his kids onto it. He thought it was a great way of meeting people, being creative, and traveling around the world and doing what you love to do.

When I was offered the part of The Dude in The Big Lebowski (1998), I went through a big thing in my head worrying if this was going to be a bad example for my girls. The guy was kind of an anti-hero, a pot-smoking, slacker kind of guy, and I was really racking my brain about it. I always want to feel free to play any role, a despicable guy or a good guy — the full range of human experience. But this one was really giving me problems. So I assembled the family and told them my problem. After a long pause, my middle girl said, “Dad, you’re an actor. We know that it’s all pretend what you do. We know that when you kiss some lady on the screen that you still love Mom. We know you’re an actor”. So I had their permission, their blessing, to go play a character like The Dude. That was great that they understood that. And I count on the audiences to understand that what I do in my personal life and what I do on the screen are not some kind of example for them to base their lives on. Hopefully, when people see a movie, they know it’s a movie.

The Last Picture Show 1971 dir. Peter Bogdanovich Cast Timothy Bottoms Bridges

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot 1974 dir. Michael Cimino Cast Clint Eastwood Jeff Bridges

Tron 1982 dir. Steven Lisberger Cast Bridges Bruce Boxleitner

The Fisher King 1991 dir. Gilliam starring Bridges Robin Wiliams Mercedes Ruehl

Fearless 1993 dir. Peter Weir Starring Bridges Isabella Rossellini The Big Lebowski 1998 dir. Joel and Ethan Coen Starring Bridges John Goodman K-Pax 2001 dir. Iain Softley Starring Kevin Spacey Jeff Bridges Tideland 2005 dir. Terry Gilliam Starring Jodelle Ferland Brendan Fletcher Surf’s Up 2007 dir. Ash Brannon Chris Buck Starring Shia LaBouef Jeff Bridges How to Lose Friends and Alienate People dir. Robert B. Weide Starring Simon Pegg Bridges Iron Man 2008 dir. Favreau Starring Robert Downey Jr. Gwyneth Paltrow The Men Who Stare at Goats dir. Grant Heslov Stars: Ewan McGregor George Clooney Kevin Spacey True Grit dir. Coen Brothers Stars: Jeff Bridges Matt Damon TRON: Legacy dir. Joseph Kosinski Stars: Jeff Bridges Garrett Hedlund Crazy Heart dir. Scott Cooper Cast Bridges Maggie Gyllenhall THE GIVER 2014 dir. Phillip Noyce Stars: Brenton Thwaites Jeff Bridges R.I.P.D. 2013 dir. Robert Schwentke Stars: Ryan Reynolds Jeff Bridges THE SEVENTH SON 2013 dir. Sergey Bodrov Stars: Ben Barnes Julianne Moore

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