Jeff Bridges

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Jeff Bridges at Comic-Con in San Diego (2017)

Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949 in Los Angeles ) is an American actor , film producer and musician .

Since his breakthrough with The Last Performance , Bridges has appeared in over 50 major Hollywood productions, including Starman , Fearless , Iron Man , Tron and The Big Lebowski . For his role in Crazy Heart , he received the 2010 Oscar for Best Actor .

Film career

Youth and beginnings as an actor

Jeff Bridges was born Jeffrey Leon Bridges in Los Angeles on December 4, 1949. He is the younger brother of Beau Bridges and thus the second son of the actor Lloyd Bridges , who is still known today through his late comedic work, and his wife Dorothy Bridges (née Simpson), who was also an actress and poet, and grew up in Holmby Hills , im close environment of the Hollywood film industry. There is also a sister named Lucide. Compared to the Los Angeles Times commented Jeff Bridges after Dorothy's death that she had with the children "pretend" daily (to German about: so do, as if ) played a coordinated game that gave them the basics of acting. Dorothy and Lloyd Bridges had learned to act together with Michael Chekhov and passed some of his acting technique on to the children.

In 1950, Jeff, who was four months old at the time of shooting, and his brother Beau Bridges starred at their mother's side in the film The Company She Keeps . Towards the end of the decade, the brothers appeared in several episodes of the television series Sea Hunt (Sea Hunt) on, where her father played the lead role. In 1963 Jeff accompanied this on a theater tour of New England , during which both played in the play Anniversary Waltz . He did his military service with the Coast Guard and then began an acting training in the studios of Herbert Berghof and Uta Hagen in New York .

In the Christmas film In a Night Like This (Silent Night, Lonely Night) , Jeff Bridges played the younger version of his father's role in a 1969 flashback. He later described himself and his success not entirely wrongly as the “result of nepotism” . Bridges got his first major role in the student drama Halls of Anger in 1970. Although the film's ratings were mixed, both contemporary and later critics praised Bridges' performance and the authenticity of his character portrayal. His subsequent engagement in The Yin and Yang of Mr. Go received little attention.

The last performance and the first Oscar nominations

The breakthrough came in 1971 with Bridges The Last Picture Show (The Last Picture Show) . Directed by Peter Bogdanovich , the coming-of-age film , based on a literary model by Larry McMurtry , became one of the most important works of the New Hollywood movement and had a great influence on American film history. The performance of the cast and crew was rewarded with eight nominations at the 1972 Academy Awards , including two each for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress . Both were won, but when it came to awarding the prizes for direction , screenplay and best film , The Last Performance had to be subordinate to William Friedkin's focal point Brooklyn . Even though the Oscar for best supporting actor went to older Ben Johnson , Bridges, then 22, is still one of the ten youngest nominees in this category. Duane Jackson, embodied by Bridges, provided the type of role the actor was fond of in the following: ordinary American, but unpredictable characters with occasional villainous features.

During the 1970s, Bridges played, among others, a Youngster boxers in Fat City (1972), a scam in Bad Company ( Bad Company , 1972), a racer in The Last American Hero ( The Last American Hero , 1973) and a anarchist teenager in The Iceman Cometh (1973). It was only during the filming of the latter that he decided to focus his career entirely on acting. As Clint Eastwood 's sidekick in The Last Bite the Dogs ( Thunderbolt and Lightfoot , 1974), Bridges, directed by Michael Cimino , earned his second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor - this time defeated by Robert De Niro , who received the Godfather II award .

In 1976 Bridges played the leading role in the successful remake of King Kong , which for newcomer Jessica Lange was a successful debut and the starting point of a career with two Oscars and four Golden Globe Awards so far . The role planned for Bridges in Going through Hell ( The Deer Hunter , 1978) got Christopher Walken , so that Bridges only worked with Michael Cimino for the second time in Heaven's Gate in 1980 - he played his own ancestor John L. Bridges here. The original version of the late west , which lasted more than five hours, triggered a wave of devastating reviews and put a damper on the career of Cimino , who was highly traded after The Last Bite the Dogs and Those Who Go Through Hell . Later cuts received far more positive reviews, but couldn't prevent the film's commercial failure. Heaven's Gate was nominated for an Oscar ( Best Production Design ) as well as for several Golden Raspberries in the following months.

"The Underappreciated Actor"

The thriller Cutter's Way from 1981 is often referred to by critics as a masterpiece, sometimes also as Bridge's best film. In 1982, the actor took on the lead role of Kevin Flynn in the cult science fiction film Tron , one of the first feature films with longer computer-generated sequences. Almost thirty years later, Bridges slipped back into the role of programmer Flynn for the sequel Tron: Legacy . In Against All Odds ( Against All Odds , 1984) Bridges met Jane Greer , which had kept him in a few months old at his first "appearance". Greer had also starred in the template Goldenes Gift ( Out of the Past , 1947).

After his third non-winning success Oscar nomination - for the first time as Best Actor for the representation of an alien in the movie Starman from John Carpenter , he preferred to F. Murray Abraham lose out - proved Bridges in The Fabulous Baker Boys ( The Fabulous Baker Boys , 1989) at the side of Michelle Pfeiffer and his brother Beau musical talent. Bridges later referred to the film as one of his favorite works. The following year he worked on Peter Bogdanovich's Texasville . This sequel to The Last Performance , however, attracted far less attention than the original 1971 film. For King of the Fishermen ( The Fisher King , 1991), Bridges was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the second time after Starman . It came away empty-handed, but won the Independent Spirit Award the following year for the father-son story American Heart - The Second Chance .

Although his restrained, charming performances were always judged to be outstanding, until the 1990s he never achieved the audience success that other men of his generation, such as Dustin Hoffman or Robert De Niro, enjoyed. This impression arose from the fact that Bridges never played a role with which he was permanently identified. He was always aware of the danger of typecasting , of being committed to a certain role, as Lloyd Bridges had to struggle with it after his time in the series Adventure Underwater . "As far as the lack of hits goes, I think perhaps it's because I've played a lot of different roles and have not created a persona that the public can latch on to. I have played everything from psychopathic killers to romantic leading men, and in picking such diverse roles I have avoided typecasting. ” (“ I think the lack of great success is due to the fact that I have played a lot of different roles and never created one where the public could fix me. I've played everything from psychopathic killers to romantic main characters and avoided by selecting such disparate roles that typecasting. ") .

In their criticism to American Heart gave Janet Maslin of the New York Times Bridges, 1992, entitled "the most underappreciated great actor of his generation" ( "The most underrated great actors of his generation") . This term developed into a kind of cliché that has since been picked up in various reviews of Jeff Bridges and his films. Bridges jokingly replied in various interviews that he did not feel valued but rather that he tried to avoid work wherever possible. He would prefer to cast low-budget films because he often liked the scripts better ("I'm not against doing a bigger-budget movie. But I find that most of the good scripts are from smaller films.") .

The dude and the late Oscar

Bridges at the premiere of his film True Grit at the Berlinale 2011

In the same year that American Heart was shot, Bridges also starred for Peter Weir's Fearless . The credible portrayal of the change in character of a man who sees the world differently after a plane crash is considered by some critics to be Bridges' greatest acting achievement. Bridges suggested his father to the producers to cast a role in Explosiv - Blown Away (1994). This was one of the last films Lloyd Bridges worked on before he passed away in 1998.

Jeff Bridges achieved international cult status through his role as Jeffrey Lebowski, known as "the Dude", in the 1998 film The Big Lebowski, directed by brothers Ethan and Joel Coen . When asked who the dude who smokes and wears sandals and bathrobes is modeled on, Bridges called himself in an interview. About half of Lebowski's clothes come from his own wardrobe.

Bridges worked with Tim Robbins and director Mark Pellington on Arlington Road in 1999 . For his supporting role in Character Assassination - Beyond Morals , he was nominated for the fourth time for an Oscar in 2001, but had to back down again; the award went to Benicio del Toro . In addition to The Big Lebowski , Bridges played one of his most famous roles here.

In Seabiscuit 2003 he was seen at the side of Toby Maguire . Tideland was the second film directed by Terry Gilliam after King of the Fishermen's Bridges . As Obadiah Stane, the antagonist of Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man , Bridges played one of his few antagonistic roles.

In the following year, his portrayal of the worn-out country musician Bad Blake in Scott Cooper's drama Crazy Heart earned him high praise from critics. In 2010, after four unsuccessful nominations, he received an Oscar, a Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award . At 61, Bridges is one of the oldest Oscar winners. As the leading actor in True Grit , his second collaboration with the Coen brothers, he had the prospect of an Academy Award again in 2011, but had to face Colin Firth as King George VI. defeated in The King's Speech . Bridges was also honored with over a dozen other film award nominations - as was the case with Crazy Heart .

Since the 1990s, Jeff Bridges has usually been dubbed for German dubbed versions by Joachim Tennstedt .

Other work

photography

In addition to acting, Bridges has also made a name for himself as a painter and photographer, his works are repeatedly exhibited in renowned galleries.

Bridges has been a passionate photographer since high school when he developed his own images. Since working on Starman , he has been taking photos of the set and the filming with his Widelux camera with a 180 ° wide-angle lens and, after the production is complete, compiles souvenir albums with handwritten comments for the cast and crew. In 2003 he combined the best images from sixteen of these albums in a black and white photo book entitled Pictures by Jeff Bridges . The collection gives an unusual insight into film production and the diverse career of the actor. Bridges jokingly describes this habit as a curse: “I'm kind of wishing the curse will stop - the curse of the Widelux. But I have a feeling it won't. To be able to capture the light and shadow from a particular moment - it's amazing. ” (“ Somehow I wish the curse would end - the curse of the Widelux. But I have the feeling it won't. Able to being able to capture light and shadow at a certain moment - that's fantastic. ”) .

music

Bridges planned a career in the music business for a long time, but then largely dropped it in favor of acting. He continued to write lyrics and composed songs and worked a. a. with Quincy Jones . In 1999 he released the album Be Here Soon under his own label Ramp Records , which was created in collaboration with Michael McDonald , David Crosby and the songwriter John Goodwin. The album is a mixture of rock, jazz and reggae music. Bridges plays piano and guitar.

In 2010 Bridges took part in the cover version of "We are the World" for the 25th anniversary of the song and the tsunami in Haiti.

In 2011 he released a country-style album simply titled Jeff Bridges , with influences from blues, folk and rock music. Two songs, Falling Short and Dumbling Vine , were composed by Bridges himself. The album was produced and co-written by T-Bone Burnett , a close friend of the actor.

Humanitarian engagement

Jeff Bridges is a co-founder of the End Hunger Network , a charity that aims to curb child starvation. In November 2010, Bridges became spokesman for the No Kid Hungry Campaign , which is run by the organization Share Our Strength . The goal of this organization is to stop the above-average starvation of US children - over 17 million children in the US live below the poverty line - by the year 2015. Bridges described the work on this project in an emotional speech to the National Press Club as "the most significant thing I have done" (" the most significant thing I have ever done") .

Bridges produced the television film Between the Worlds (Hidden in America) in 1996 , which focuses on hunger in the USA. His brother Beau, who played the lead role, received a Screen Actor's Guild Award for his performance. The film itself was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

Private life

Jeff Bridges has been married to Susan Geston since 1977, whom he met while filming Rancho Deluxe in 1975 . The couple has three daughters. He maintains friendships with fellow actors like Nick Nolte and Gary Busey and the director Terry Gilliam .

According to Bridges, long-term use of marijuana has been restricted since working on The Big Lebowski .

Awards

Bridges at the presentation of the Independent Spirit Awards (2010)
Jeff Bridges (2nd from left) with Ewan McGregor , George Clooney and Grant Heslov at the premiere of Men Who Stare at Goats in September 2009

Bridges has been Oscar-nominated three times for Best Actor and four times for Best Supporting Actor - for the first time in 1971 for his performance in The Last Performance . In 2010 he received the Academy Award and the Golden Globe, as well as the Screen Actors Guild Award for his leading role in Bad Blake in Crazy Heart . In addition, he received the Saturn Award in the Best Actor category in 1984.

In total, Bridges received nominations for over fifty film and television awards. The awards won include an Emmy (2010) and two Independent Spirit Awards (1993 and 2010). In 1994 Bridges was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . This is at the same address as that of his brother Beau Bridges , namely 7065 Hollywood Boulevard.

Academy Awards ( Oscar )

Won:

Nominated:

Golden Globe Awards

Won:

  • 2010 : Best Actor - Drama: Crazy Heart
  • 2019 : Cecil B. DeMille Award

Nominated:

  • 1985 : Best Actor - Drama: Starman
  • 1992 : Best Actor - Comedy or Musical: King of the Fishermen
  • 2001 : Best Supporting Actor: Character Assassination - Beyond Morality
  • 2017 : Best Supporting Actor: Hell or High Water

British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA Awards)

Nominated:

  • 2010 : Best Actor: Crazy Heart
  • 2011 : Best Actor: True Grit
  • 2017 : Best Supporting Actor: Hell or High Water

Filmography (selection)

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Jeff Bridges
  CH 20th 08/28/2011 (6 weeks)
  US 25th 09/03/2011 (4 weeks)

Studio albums:

  • 1999: Be Here Soon (Ramp Records / Chicago Records) with Michael McDonald
  • 2010: Crazy Heart (Blue Rose / Soulfood Music)
  • 2011: Jeff Bridges (EMI Records / Blue Note Records)
  • 2015: Sleeping Tapes (Squarespace)

bibliography

  • Dorothy Bridges: You Caught Me Kissing: A Love Story. I Books, 2005, ISBN 978-1-4165-0491-7 . (with contributions from Beau, Lucinda, and Jeff Bridges).
  • Jeff Bridges: Pictures by Jeff Bridges. 119 photographs. powerHouse Books, 2006, ISBN 978-1-57687-177-5 . (with a foreword by Peter Bogdanovich ).
  • Jeff Bridges, Bernie Glassman : The Dude and His Zen Master. Life, love and how to stay relaxed. Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-7857-6111-3 . (The American original edition was published in 2012)

Web links

Commons : Jeff Bridges  - Collection of Images

swell

General biography sources

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dennis McLellan: Dorothy Bridges dies at 93; 'the hub' of an acting family. In: Los Angeles Times. February 21, 2009, accessed February 16, 2011 .
  2. ↑ a b c Philip French: Here's looking back at you. In: The Observer. August 6, 2006, accessed February 17, 2011 .
  3. ↑ Monica Sullivan: Special Report: Halls Of Anger. In: Movie Magazine International. October 16, 2002, accessed February 16, 2011 .
  4. ↑ Michael Hanisch: To take off. Michael Cimino's “Heaven's Gate” received its deserved recognition. In: film-dienst 6, 2005, p. 59f.
  5. ^ Spirit Awards: 26 Years of Nominees & Winners. (No longer available online.) 2011, archived from the original on March 4, 2011 ; Retrieved on February 17, 2011 (English, p. 34). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.spiritawards.com
  6. ↑ a b Alexis Gordon: Interview with Jeff Bridges. January 26, 2010, accessed February 17, 2011 .
  7. ↑ Janet Maslin : American Heart: Father and Son Find Each Other Again. In: The New York Times. May 14, 1993, accessed February 17, 2011 .
  8. ↑ Michael Curtis Nelson: 100 Essential Male Film Performances. Retrieved February 17, 2011 .
  9. ^ John Wren-Lewis: Fearless - A movie masterpiece about transcendence. (No longer available online.) In: Pallicom. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006 ; accessed on February 17, 2011 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.globalideasbank.org
  10. ↑ Jeff Bridges: Pictures by Jeff Bridges . powerHouse Books, 2006, ISBN 978-1-57687-177-5 . ( Preface )
  11. ↑ Norma Meyer: Shooting Star. November 16, 2004, accessed February 17, 2011 .
  12. ↑ Christian Holzmann: "Crazy Heart" was just the beginning. August 14, 2011, accessed August 14, 2011 .
  13. ^ Jeff Bridges to Launch Campaign Against Childhood Hunger. November 5, 2010, accessed February 17, 2011 .
  14. ↑ Ken Dalecki: Jeff Bridges Says Campaign to End Hunger is His Most Significant Act. November 11, 2010, accessed February 17, 2011 .
  15. ↑ Nominees and winners of the 82nd Academy Awards. Retrieved February 15, 2011 .
  16. ↑ Nominees and winners of the 67th Golden Globe Awards. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 29, 2010 ; accessed on February 16, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.goldenglobes.org
  17. ↑ Nominees and winners of the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards. Retrieved February 15, 2011 .
  18. ↑ List of winners of the Saturn Film Awards for Best Actor . (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 9, 2010 ; accessed on February 15, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.saturnawards.org
  19. ^ Jeff Bridges' Honors and Awards in the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 16, 2011 .
  20. ↑ Jeff Bridges on the Walk of Fame. Retrieved February 15, 2011 .
  21. ↑ Beau Bridges on the Walk of Fame. Retrieved February 15, 2011 .
  22. ↑ Academy Awards nominees and winners by years. Retrieved February 15, 2011 .
  23. ↑ Golden Globe Awards nominees and winners by years. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 27, 2012 ; accessed on February 16, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.goldenglobes.org
  24. ↑ Jeff Bridges to Receive Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2019 Golden Globes . Article dated December 17, 2018, accessed December 17, 2018.
  25. ↑ Jeff Bridges nominations in the BAFTA Film Awards archive. Retrieved February 16, 2011 .
  26. ↑ Chart sources: CH US
personal data
SURNAME Bridges, Jeff
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bridges, Jeffrey Leon (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor, film producer, and musician
DATE OF BIRTH 4th December 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH los Angeles