Biography

The son of actor Lloyd Bridges, Jeff Bridges made his screen bow as a petulant infant in the arms of his real-life mother, Dorothy, in the 1950 Jane Greer melodrama The Company She Keeps; his troublesome older brother in that film was played by his real older brother Beau. The younger Bridges made a more formal debut before the cameras at age eight, in an episode of his dad's TV series Sea Hunt.

After serving in the Coast Guard reserve, the budding actor studied acting at the Herbert Berghof school. While older brother Beau was developing into a character player, Bridges, thanks in equal parts to his ability and ruggedly handsome looks, became a bona fide leading man. He had his first major success with a leading role in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Two years later, he won yet another Oscar nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actor in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). Bridges worked steadily throughout the rest of the 1970s, starring in a number of films, including Hearts of the West (1975) and Stay Hungry (1976). The 1980s brought further triumph, despite starting out inauspiciously with a part in the notoriously ill-fated Heaven's Gate (1981). In 1984, Bridges won yet another Oscar nomination for his leading role in Starman and continued to find acclaim for his work, in such movies as The Morning After (1986) and The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989). The latter featured Bridges and brother Beau as struggling musicians, as well as Michelle Pfeiffer in a performance marked by both the actress' own talent and her ability to roll around on a piano wearing a figure-hugging red velvet dress.

Bridges began the 1990s with Texasville, the desultory sequel to The Last Picture Show. Things began to improve with acclaimed performances in Fearless (1993) and American Heart (1995) (the latter marked his producing debut), and the actor found commercial, if not critical, success with the bomb thriller Blown Away in 1994. More success followed, with a lead role in the Barbra Streisand vehicle The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), and as a hapless and perpetually stoned bowling aficionado in the Coen brothers' The Big Lebowski (1998). In 1999, Bridges returned to the thriller genre with Arlington Road, playing the concerned neighbor of urban terrorist Tim Robbins, and then switched gears with Albert Brooks' comedy drama The Muse.

In addition to his acting achievements, Bridges has also written some 200 songs, a talent which he memorably incorporated in The Fabulous Baker Boys. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Seabiscuit (2003) .... Charles Howard
Masked & Anonymous (2003) .... Tom Friend
Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West (2002) (voice) .... Narrator
Lost In La Mancha (2002) (voice) .... Narrator
Making of 'Tron', The (2002) (V) .... Himself
K-PAX (2001) .... Dr. Mark Powell, Chief of Clinical Psychology at Manhattan Psychiatric Institute
Scenes of the Crime (2001) .... Jimmy
Contender, The (2000) .... President Jackson Evans
... aka Manipulations (2001) (France)
Raising the Mammoth (2000) (TV) (voice) .... Narrator
Arista Records' 25th Anniversary Celebration (1999) (TV) .... Himself
Forever Hollywood (1999) .... Himself
Simpatico (1999) .... Lyle Carter
... aka Simpatico (1999) (France)
Muse, The (1999) .... Jack Warrick
Arlington Road (1999) .... Michael Faraday
Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, A (1998) (uncredited) (archive footage) .... 'Lightfoot' in Movie on TV
... aka Fille d'un soldat ne pleure jamais, La (1998) (France)
Big Lebowski, The (1998) .... Jeffrey Lebowski/The Dude
Hidden in America (1996) (TV) .... Vincent
Mirror Has Two Faces, The (1996) .... Gregory Larkin
White Squall (1996) .... Captain Christopher 'Skipper' Sheldon
Wild Bill (1995) .... James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok
Blown Away (1994) .... Jimmy Dove/Liam McGivney
Fearless (1993) .... Max Klein
Vanishing, The (1993) .... Barney
American Heart (1992) .... Jack Kelson
Fisher King, The (1991) .... Jack Lucas
Picture This - The Times of Peter Bogdanovich in Archer City, Texas (1991) .... Himself
Texasville (1990) .... Duane Jackson
Fabulous Baker Boys, The (1989) .... Jack Baker
Cold Feet (1989) (uncredited) .... Bartender
See You in the Morning (1989) .... Larry Livingstone
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) .... Preston Thomas Tucker
Nadine (1987) .... Vernon Hightower
Morning After, The (1986) .... Turner Kendall
Thanksgiving Promise, The (1986) (TV) (uncredited) .... Neighbor
8 Million Ways to Die (1986) .... Matt Scudder
Jagged Edge (1985) .... Jack Forrester
Starman (1984) .... Starman
... aka John Carpenter's Starman (1984) (USA: complete title)
Against All Odds (1984) .... Terry Brogan
Kiss Me Goodbye (1982) .... Rupert Baines
Last Unicorn, The (1982) (voice) .... Prince Lir
Tron (1982) .... Kevin Flynn/Clu
Cutter's Way (1981) .... Richard Bone
... aka Cutter and Bone (1981)
Girls In Their Summer Dresses and Other Stories by Irwin Shaw, The (1981) (TV) .... Michael Loomis (story 'The Girls in Their Summer Dresses')
Heaven's Gate (1980) .... John L. Bridges
... aka Johnson County Wars (1980)
American Success Company, The (1979) .... Harry
... aka American Success (1979)
... aka Ringer, The (1979)
... aka Success (1983) (USA: recut version)
Heroes of Rock and Roll, The (1979) (TV) .... Narrator
Winter Kills (1979) .... Nick Kegan
Somebody Killed Her Husband (1978) .... Jerry Green
King Kong (1976) .... Jack Prescott
Stay Hungry (1976) .... Craig Blake
Hearts of the West (1975) .... Lewis Tater
... aka Hollywood Cowboy (1975) (UK)
Rancho Deluxe (1975) .... Jack McKee
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) .... Lightfoot
Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973) .... Zack Feather
... aka Lolly-Madonna War, The (1973) (UK)
Iceman Cometh, The (1973) .... Don Parritt
Last American Hero, The (1973) .... Elroy Jackson Jr.
... aka Hard Driver (1973) (USA: reissue title)
Bad Company (1972) .... Jake Rumsey
Fat City (1972) .... Ernie
Last Picture Show, The (1971) .... Duane Moore
In Search of America (1971) (TV) .... Mike Olson
Halls of Anger (1970) .... Doug
Yin and Yang of Mr. Go, The (1970) .... Nero Finnighan
... aka Third Eye, The (1970)
Silent Night, Lonely Night (1969) (TV) .... Young John
"Lloyd Bridges Show, The" (1962) TV Series .... Occasional Player
Company She Keeps, The (1950) (uncredited) .... Infant at train station