Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges

Bridges in 2013
Born Jeffrey Leon Bridges
December 4, 1949
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor, singer, producer, composer
Years active 1950–present
Spouse(s) Susan Geston (m. 1977)
Children 3 daughters
Parent(s) Lloyd Bridges,
Dorothy Bridges
Family Beau Bridges (brother)
Jordan Bridges (nephew)

Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor, singer, and producer. He comes from a well-known acting family and began his televised acting in 1958 as a child with his father, Lloyd Bridges, and brother, Beau, on television's Sea Hunt. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart and earned Academy Award nominations for his roles in The Last Picture Show, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Starman, The Contender, and True Grit. Among his other better-known major motion films are: The Big Lebowski, Fearless, Iron Man, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Jagged Edge, Against All Odds, The Fisher King, Tucker, Seabiscuit, Arlington Road, Tron, Tron: Legacy and The Giver.

Early life

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

Bridges and his siblings were raised in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles.[4] Growing up, Bridges 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, Jeff toured with his father in a stage production of Anniversary Waltz. After graduating from high school, Bridges moved to New York City, where he studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio. Also, after turning 18, Bridges joined the United States Coast Guard Reserve, where he served for seven years.[6]

Career

Film

Jeff Bridges at an event for The Giver in 2014

Bridges made his first screen appearances 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 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.[7] He co-starred in the 1972 critically acclaimed neo-noir boxing film Fat City, directed by John Huston. He was nominated again for Best Supporting Actor for his performance opposite Clint Eastwood in the 1974 film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.[7] 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 cult classic 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.[7] 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.[8] One critic dubbed it a masterpiece;[9] Pauline Kael wrote that he "may be the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived."[10] In 1998, he starred as what is arguably his most famous role, The Dude, in the Coen brothers' cult-classic film The Big Lebowski.[7] He has said that he relates to The Dude more than any of his other roles.

In 2000, he received his fourth Academy Award nomination, for his role in The Contender.[7] 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[11] mane of hair to play the role of Obadiah Stane in the 2008 Marvel comic book adaptation Iron Man.[12] 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 (2010, age 60, Best Actor, Crazy Heart).[13][14] 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's 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.

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?"[15]

Bridges studied piano at a young age, strongly encouraged by his mother.[16] While working on the 1980 film Heaven's Gate, he often played guitar with his costar, singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson, between takes. His character in Crazy Heart, Bad Blake, was later based partly on Kristofferson. 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.[17] 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.[18] On November 5, 2011, Bridges played Austin City Limits in support of this album.[19]

In 2015, Jeff Bridges released an ambient/spoken-word album entitled Sleeping Tapes.[20] All proceeds from the album go directly to Bridges' charity No Kid Hungry.[21]

Bridges plays many guitars, including the Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentlemen Model G6122-1959.[16]

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

Other work

Author

In 2013, Bridges authored The Dude and the Zen Master with Bernie Glassman.[22] 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.[23] The book was formed from what has been described as a "transcript of a five-day “hang” on a Montana ranch."[24]

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.[25] Since 1980, he began photographing on and off set shot with his favorite camera, a Widelux F8. He published many of these photographs online and published a book in 2003 entitled, Pictures: Photographs by Jeff Bridges.[26][27][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 also voiced the character Big Z in the animated picture Surf's Up.

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] They met on the film shoot of Rancho Deluxe, which was filmed on a ranch where Geston was working as a maid.[7][33] They have three daughters: Isabelle Annie (born August 6, 1981), Jessica Lily "Jessie" (born June 14, 1983), and Hayley Roselouise (born October 17, 1985).[34] Bridges became a grandfather on March 31, 2011, when Isabelle gave birth to a daughter, Grace.

Bridges has studied Buddhism. He meditates for half an hour before beginning work on a film set.[35] He has learned Transcendental Meditation.[36]

Humanitarian efforts

In 1984, Bridges and other entertainment industry leaders founded the End Hunger Network aimed at encouraging, stimulating and supporting action to end childhood hunger. He supports 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. Its goal is to present and undertake a state-by-state strategy to end childhood hunger in the United States by 2015.[37] Bridges also supports environmental causes and organizations such as the Amazon Conservation Team.[38]

Filmography and television programs

Film
Year Title Role Note
1951 The Company She Keeps Himself (Infant)
1958–1960 Sea Hunt Davey Crane/Jimmy/Boy/Kelly Bailey 4 episodes
1965 The Loner Bud Windom TV series (1 episode: "The Ordeal of Bud Windom")
1969 The F.B.I. Terry Shelton TV series (1 episode: "Boomerang")
1969 Silent Night, Lonely Night John Young
1970 The Don Knotts Show Himself TV series (1 episode)
1970 Halls of Anger Douglas (Doug)
1971 Last Picture Show, TheThe Last Picture Show Duane Jackson
1971 The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go Nero Finnighan
1971 In Search of America Mike Olson
1972 Fat City Ernie Munger
1972 Bad Company Jake Rumsey
1973 Lolly-Madonna XXX Zack Feather
1973 Last American Hero, TheThe Last American Hero Elroy Jackson, Jr.
1973 Iceman Cometh, TheThe Iceman Cometh Don Parritt
1974 Thunderbolt and Lightfoot Lightfoot
1975 Rancho Deluxe Jack McKee
1975 Hearts of the West Lewis Tater
1976 Stay Hungry Craig Blake
1976 King Kong Jack Prescott
1978 Somebody Killed Her Husband Jerry Green
1979 Winter Kills Nick Kegan
1979 The American Success Company Harry Flowers
1980 Heaven's Gate John L. Bridges
1981 Cutter's Way Richard Bone
1982 Tron Kevin Flynn
1982 Kiss Me Goodbye Dr. Rupert Baines
1982 Last Unicorn, TheThe Last Unicorn Prince Lír Voice only
1984 Against All Odds Terry Brogan
1984 Starman Starman/Scott Hayden
1985 Jagged Edge Jack Forrester
1986 8 Million Ways to Die Matthew "Matt" Scudder
1986 Morning After, TheThe 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
1989 Fabulous Baker Boys, TheThe Fabulous Baker Boys Jack Baker
1990 Texasville Duane Jackson
1991 Fisher King, TheThe Fisher King Jack Lucas
1992 American Heart Jack Kelson Also producer
1993 Vanishing, TheThe Vanishing Barney Cousins
1993 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
1996 Mirror Has Two Faces, TheThe Mirror Has Two Faces Gregory Larkin
1996 Hidden in America Vincent TV movie; also executive producer
1998 Big Lebowski, TheThe Big Lebowski Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski
1999 Arlington Road Michael Faraday
1999 Muse, TheThe Muse Jack Warrick
1999 Simpatico Lyle Carter
2000 Contender, TheThe Contender President Jackson Evans
2001 Scenes of the Crime Jimmy Berg
2001 K-PAX Dr. Mark Powell
2002 Lost in La Mancha Narrator Documentary
2003 Masked and Anonymous Tom Friend
2003 Seabiscuit Charles S. Howard
2004 Door in the Floor, TheThe Door in the Floor Ted Cole
2005 Amateurs, TheThe Amateurs Andy
2005 Tideland Noah
2006 Stick It Burt Vickerman
2007 Surf's Up Ezekiel 'Big Z' Topanga/Geek Voice only
2008 Dog Year, AA Dog Year Jon Katz TV movie
2008 Iron Man Obadiah Stane / Iron Monger
2008 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Clayton Harding
2009 Open Road, TheThe Open Road Kyle
2009 Crazy Heart Otis "Bad" Blake
2009 Men Who Stare at Goats, TheThe Men Who Stare at Goats Bill Django
2010 Tron: Legacy Kevin Flynn/Clu 2
2010 True Grit Rooster Cogburn
2011 Saturday Night Live Host TV
2012 A Place at the Table Narrator
2012 Ted Uncredited cameo during Airplane spoof
2013 R.I.P.D. Roy Pulsipher
2013 Pablo Narrator/Professor
2014 The Giver The Giver Also producer
2015 Seventh Son Master Gregory
2015 The Little Prince The Pilot Voice; post-production

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details Peak chart positions
US Country
[39]		 US
[39]		 US
Folk
[40]		 US
Rock
[40]
Be Here Soon
  • Release date: January 1, 2000
  • Label: Ramp Records
  • Formats: CD
 – – – –
Jeff Bridges 10 25 2 5
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"[41] Alan Kozlowski

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Actress Dorothy Bridges dies, Mother of Beau and Jeff Bridges was 93". Variety Magazine. February 20, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Jeff Bridges Biography (1949–)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  3. ↑ http://www.suerussellwrites.com/bridges.html
  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".
  6. ↑ "Jeff Bridges Biography". thespiannet. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2003
  8. ↑ "100 Essential Male Film Performances: Part 4 – From the Page to the Screen".
  9. ↑ "Fearless — A movie masterpiece about transcendence".
  10. ↑ Philip French (August 6, 2006). "Here's looking back at you". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  11. ↑ Kepnes, E! Online. "Jeff Bridges Shaves Head, Talks Iron Man". E! Online. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "Iron Man — Official Site".
  13. ↑ Sheridan, Emily (March 8, 2010). "Fifth time lucky Oscar winner Jeff Bridges pays tribute to his 'gorgeous wife of 33 years' at Governors Ball". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  14. ↑ Bridges, Jeff (guest) (24 June 2004). "'The Door in the Floor': Actor Jeff Bridges". USA Today. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  15. ↑ Guitar Aficionado Magazine – Spring 2010
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Interview/Testimonial video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qntfBwX6Kgg&feature=player_embedded
  17. ↑ "'We Are The World – 25 For Haiti' Artists Include Kanye West, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber".
  18. ↑ "CMT : News : Jeff Bridges signs to Blue Note Records". Country Music Television. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Video: Miranda Lambert / Jeff Bridges Watch Austin City Limits Online PBS Video". Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  20. ↑ "Jeff Bridges-Sleeping tapes". www.dreamingwithjeff.com. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  21. ↑ "Jeff Bridges Lulls Listeners to Bed With New Album 'Sleeping Tapes'". Rolling Stone. January 28, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Jeff Bridges On Zen Buddhism And ‘The Big Lebowski’". On Point. January 8, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Jeff Bridges On The Zen Message In 'The Big Lebowski'". The Huffington Post. February 2, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  24. ↑ Oppenheimer, Mark (January 6, 2013). "If Lebowski Calls, Will You Be in? Or Out Bowling?". The New York Times. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Photography". JeffBridges.com. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  26. ↑ powerHouse Books, 2003, ISBN 1-57687-177-0; Library of Congress control number: 2003046711
  27. ↑ "Library of Congress Online Catalogs".
  28. ↑ "pictures".
  29. ↑ "Pictures: Jeff Bridges" by Jeff Bridges. Published 2003.
  30. ↑ "Oscars: Hyundai debuts clever Academy Awards ad with Jeff Bridges’ actor friends". Theweeklydriver.com. March 6, 2010. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  31. ↑ Samaniego, Danielle. "Name That Voice: Ten Celebrity Commercial Voice-Overs". Divinecaroline.com. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  32. ↑ Video on YouTube
  33. ↑ "Jeff Bridges: On Marriage". Reader's Digest. February 2006. Retrieved September 9, 2008.
  34. ↑ "Susan Geston and Jeff Bridges Marriage Profile". About.com. Retrieved July 2014.
  35. ↑ Butler, Katy (Fall 2010). "The Natural - How Jeff Bridges works with anxiety and maintaining a joyful mind". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review 20 (1): 54.
  36. ↑ "Jeff Bridges". NNDB. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  37. ↑ "Jeff Bridges to Launch Campaign Against Childhood Hunger in National Press Club Address". PRNewswire. November 5, 2010. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
  38. ↑ "Video: Why Does Jeff Bridges Support the Amazon Conservation Team?". Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "Chart News August 24: Country Dominates as Luke Bryan Still Top Dawg". Roughstock. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 "Chart listing for Jeff Bridges". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  41. ↑ "CMT : Videos : Jeff Bridges : What a Little Bit of Love Can Do". Country Music Television. Retrieved August 23, 2011.

External links

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