Lloyd Bridges Interview (May 7, 1977)

Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, including the actors Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges. He started his career as a contract performer for Columbia Pictures, appearing in films such as Sahara (1943), A Walk in the Sun (1945), Little Big Horn (1951) and High Noon (1952). On television, he starred in Sea Hunt 1958 to 1961. By the end of his career, he had re-invented himself and demonstrated a comedic talent in such parody films as Airplane! (1980), Hot Shots! (1991), and Jane Austen's Mafia! (1998). Among other honors, Bridges was a two-time Emmy Award nominee. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 1, 1994.

Early life[edit]
Bridges was born in San Leandro, California, to Harriet Evelyn (Brown) Bridges (1893–1950) and Lloyd Vernet Bridges (1887–1962), who was involved in the California hotel business and once owned a movie theater.[1] His parents were both from Kansas. Bridges graduated from Petaluma High School in 1930.[2] He then studied political science at UCLA, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Blacklisting[edit]

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Bridges was blacklisted briefly in the 1950s[7] after he admitted to the House Un-American Activities Committee that he had once been a member of the Actors' Laboratory Theatre, a group found to have had links to the Communist party. He returned to acting after recanting his membership and serving as a cooperative witness,[8] achieving his greatest success in television.

Bridges starred in a short-lived series, Capital News (1990), for ABC.[21] In 1990, he had a supporting role in Joe Versus the Volcano, and portrayed Harry Helmsley in the made-for-television movie, Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean.

Bridges was in Shining Time Station: 'Tis a Gift (1990) then reprised his comedy career with a supporting role in Hot Shots! (1991). He starred in a TV movie In the Nick of Time (1992) and was in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992), Devlin (1992), and Mr. Bluesman [de] (1993) before reprising his old role in Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993).

Bridges did Secret Sins of the Father (1994) with son Beau (who directed), and Cinderella ... Frozen in Time (1994). His last regular TV series was Harts of the West (1993–1994).

Bridges supported son Jeff in a big budget action film Blown Away (1994). He did "Sandkings" (1995) for The Outer Limits (1995) with Beau, The Other Woman (1995), Nothing Lasts Forever (1995), and The Deliverance of Elaine (1996) and did voice work on Peter and the Wolf (1995). He had a semi-regular part on Second Noah (1996).

He received a second Emmy Award nomination four decades after the first when he was nominated in 1998 for his role as Izzy Mandelbaum on Seinfeld.

Bridges served on the advisory board of the Los Angeles Student Film Institute.[22][23]

Bridges also guest starred on Ned and Stacey.

Bridges' last roles were in Mafia! (1998) and Meeting Daddy (2000).

Personal life[edit]

Bridges and his son Beau at the 44th Emmy Awards, August 30, 1992
Bridges met his wife, Dorothy Bridges (née Simpson), in his fraternity; they married in 1938 in New York City.[24] They had four children: actors Beau Bridges (born in 1941) and Jeff Bridges (born in 1949); a daughter, Lucinda Louise Bridges (born in October 1953);[25] and another son, Garrett Myles Bridges, who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome on August 3, 1948. Actor Jordan Bridges is Beau's son and Lloyd's grandson. Dorothy and Lloyd exchanged vows again for their 50th wedding anniversary.

Death[edit]
On March 10, 1998, Bridges died of natural causes at the age of 85.[26]

Tributes[edit]
An episode ("The Burning") in the final Seinfeld season (1998) was dedicated to the memory of Lloyd Bridges. He had played the character of Izzy Mandelbaum in the episodes "The English Patient" in 1997 and "The Blood" later the same year.

Bridges' last film, Jane Austen's Mafia!, which came out the year of his death, bears a dedication to him.

In 2011, Bridges was posthumously named as one of six recipients that year – two of whom are his sons Beau and Jeff – of the Lone Sailor Award, which honors former Coast Guard servicemen who forged successful careers as civilians.[27][28]