Lloyd Bridges

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Lloyd Bridges, 1989
Commodore Lloyd Bridges on a poster for the United States Coast Guard

Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. (born January 15, 1913 in San Leandro , California , † March 10, 1998 in Los Angeles , California) was an American actor .

Life

His desire to become an actor arose during his school days when his future wife introduced him to an amateur drama group. Although his father wanted the son should Jura study and become a lawyer, Lloyd Bridges pursued the goal of acting career. As early as 1936, the young, handsome Californian starred in the first films without attracting much attention.

Although Lloyd Bridges played major supporting or leading roles in his Hollywood films, he was never able to establish himself as one of the top film stars. Nevertheless, he is remembered with many good supporting roles. He played among others in Twelve Noon (1952) the role of the impulsive and childish Deputy Marshal Harvey Pell alongside Grace Kelly and Gary Cooper . It was only with the breakthrough of television that he became a popular actor: the television series Adventure Under Water , in which Bridges played the diver Mike Nelson , was one of the most popular series on American and later on German television between 1957 and 1961. After the success in this series, Bridges played almost exclusively in television films, such as B. in The Loner , Roots or Kampfstern Galactica . A compilation of various episodes of this series was also released in theaters in Europe. In Mission Galactica : The Cylon Attack (1978) Bridges played the Commander Cain of the battle star Pegasus.

In an early planning phase for the series Star Trek (Spaceship Enterprise), which was to run on American television from 1966, he was intended for the lead role of the captain. However, an engagement did not materialize.

Only for The Fifth Musketeer (The Fifth Musketeer) (1979), he returned as Aramis back to the canvas. In Jim Abrahams ' comedy The Incredible Journey in a Crazy Airplane (1980) and in its sequel, The Incredible Journey in a Crazy Spaceship , he twice played an experienced, chain-smoking air traffic controller. He played Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the series Torches in the Storm in the 1980s .

A younger audience might also be familiar with Bridges in the role of Admiral Thomas "Tug" Benson from the very successful comedy film series Hot Shots! - The Mother of All Films (1991), also directed by Jim Abrahams. In hot shots! The second attempt (1993) he even rose to president with the same figure.

The premiere of his last film, Mafia! - A noodle doesn't make spaghetti! , the then 85-year-old did not experience anymore. He died in March 1998, just a few weeks after filming closed.

Blacklist

In the 1950s he was briefly in the McCarthy era of the House Un-American Activities Committee on the black list set. He was a member of an actors union. Bridges was again acquitted of the charge of being a communist and taken off the list by the FBI .

family

Lloyd Bridges was the head of a well-known family of American actors. In 1938 he married his school love Dorothy Dean Simpson († February 2009), the marriage lasted until his death. With Dorothy he had two sons and a daughter. Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges also became actors.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Lloyd Bridges  - Collection of Images
personal data
SURNAME Bridges, Lloyd
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bridges, Lloyd Vernet Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH San Leandro , California, United States
DATE OF DEATH March 10, 1998
Place of death Los Angeles , California, United States