Jeffrey Leon Bridges
,
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Birthday
1949-12-04
Occupation
Actor
Spouse(s)
Susan Geston (1977–present; 3 children)
Years Active
1969–present
Biography
Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor and musician. His most notable films include The Big Lebowski, King Kong, The Last Picture Show, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Tron, Starman, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Seabiscuit, K-PAX, The Fisher King, Fearless, The Contender, Iron Man, Tron: Legacy, True Grit and Crazy Heart, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 82nd Academy Awards. Jeff Bridges made his first screen appearance at the tender age of four months, playing Jane Greer's infant son in The Company She Keeps in 1950. In his youth, Bridges and Beau made occasional appearances on their father's show Sea Hunt (1958–1961) and the CBS anthology series, The Lloyd Bridges Show (1962–1963). His first major role came in the 1971 movie The Last Picture Show, for which he garnered a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was nominated again for the same award for his performance opposite Clint Eastwood in the 1974 film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. In 1976, he starred as the protagonist Jack Prescott in the first remake of King Kong, opposite Jessica Lange. This film was a huge 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). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1984 for playing the alien in Starman. He was also acclaimed for his roles in the thriller Against All Odds and the crime drama Jagged Edge. His role in Fearless is recognized by some critics to be one of his best performances. One critic dubbed it a masterpiece; Pauline Kael wrote that he "may be the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived". In 1998 starred as what is arguably his most famous role, "The Dude" in the Coen Brothers' cult-classic film The Big Lebowski. He has stated in the past 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. He also starred in the 2005 Terry Gilliam movie Tideland, his second with the director (the first being 1991's The Fisher King). He shaved his trademark mane of hair to play the role of Obadiah Stane in the 2008 Marvel comic book adaptation Iron Man. 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. In 2010, Bridges won the Academy Award for Best Actor, 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 for his role as Bad Blake in the film Crazy Heart. (Bridges is one of the oldest actors ever to win an Academy Award; he was also one of the youngest actors ever to be nominated. In 2010, he won his Oscar for Crazy Heart at the age of 60; in 1972, he was nominated for The Last Picture Show at age 22.) He 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' 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. It marked the first time two actors had been nominated for the award for playing the same character; Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro won Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards for playing Vito Corleone in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.
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