Jeff Bridges paid tribute to his late dad in his Critics’ Choice Awards speech, after picking up the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Bridges, 73, was named the recipient of the prestigious award at the 28th annual Critics’ Choice Awards. The event took place on Sunday, January 15 at The Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Bridges, who is a Los Angeles native, was presented the award by his The Big Lebowski co-star, John Goodman.
During his speech, Jeff Bridges took time to thank his family, as well as his late father, who encouraged Jeff’s pursuit of acting.
Who is Jeff Bridges’s dad?
American actor Jeff Bridges is the son of Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr and Dorothy Bridges. Jeff is one of four children born to the couple. His siblings include Beau and Lucinda “Cindy” Bridges, who both have successfully pursued acting. Their fourth sibling, Garrett Myles Bridges, died in infancy.
It comes as no surprise that Jeff, Beau, and Cindy Bridges have found acting fame. Their dad, Lloyd, was a celebrated stage and screen actor who appeared in more than 150 feature films. Some of his notable credits include High Noon, Sea Hunt, and Airplane! Their mother, Dorothy Bridges, was an actress as well as a poet.
Lloyd Bridges was born on January 15, 1913 in San Leandro, California.
What happened to Lloyd Bridges?
On March 10, 1998, Lloyd Bridges died of natural causes, despite having suffered from minor illnesses on and off in the year leading up to his death, Washington Post reports. He was 85 years old when he passed away.
Lloyd Bridges died at his Los Angeles home with wife Dorothy, Beau, and Cindy at his side.
Dorothy Bridges died of “age-related causes,” the Los Angeles Times reports, on February 16, 2009. She passed away at the age of 93 in the house where she and Lloyd Bridges raised their three children.
Jeff Bridges’s dad is the ‘reason’ behind his acting success
Last Sunday (January 15, 2023), on what would’ve been Lloyd Bridges’s 110th birthday, his son Jeff paid tribute to him at the Critics’ Choice Awards.
In his acceptance speech for the Lifetime Achievement Award, the True Grit actor acknowledged that he would not have received such success without his dad’s encouragement.
“It’s my dad’s birthday today, January 15. I’m wearing his cuff links. I wouldn’t be up here without my dad,” Bridges said.
“He’s the reason that I’m up here. I can remember him loving showbiz so much, loving acting so much, and as a kid I said, ‘You know, Dad, I’m not sure I wanna be an actor.’ […] He said, ‘Jeff, don’t be ridiculous. Being an actor, they’re gonna call on you to do all of those things you’re interested in. And besides that, you’re gonna get to tell all these wonderful stories from all these different perspectives of people that are alive. This is a wonderful profession’.”
Jeff and dad Lloyd Bridges starred in a film together
As part of the Bridges family acting dynasty, Jeff Bridges crossed professionally paths with his dad in Hollywood.
In 1988, Jeff Bridges starred as a daring automaker in Francis Ford Coppola’s Tucker: The Man And His Dream. He played opposite his father, who portrayed a corrupt senator.
The family have crossed over in Hollywood after that as well. Jeff and brother Beau both notably appeared in The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989).
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