Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
, two-time
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
and one-time
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
winner, as well as a two-time
Screen Actors Guild Award
Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...
nominee. Bridges was awarded a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
on April 7, 2003, at 7065
Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the television industry. He is the son of actor
Lloyd Bridges and elder brother of fellow actor
Jeff Bridges.
Early life
Bridges was born on December 9, 1941 in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, the son of actors
Lloyd Bridges (1913–1998) and
Dorothy Bridges
Dorothy Louise Bridges (née Simpson; September 19, 1915 – February 16, 2009) was an American actress and poet. Bridges was the matriarch of an acting family, which included her husband, Lloyd Bridges, two of their three sons, Beau Bridges ...
(
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Simpson; 1915–2009).
He was nicknamed ''Beau'' by his parents after
Ashley Wilkes' son in ''
Gone with the Wind''.
His younger brother is actor
Jeff Bridges, and he has a younger sister, Lucinda. Another brother, Garrett, died in 1948 of
sudden infant death syndrome. Beau has shared a close relationship with Jeff, for whom he acted as a surrogate father during childhood, when their father was busy with work. He and his siblings were raised in the
Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles.
Wanting to become a
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
star, he played in his freshman year at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...
(UCLA) under legendary coach
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as hea ...
, where he joined
Sigma Alpha Epsilon, he later transferred to the
University of Hawaii. In 1959, he enlisted in the
United States Coast Guard Reserve
The United States Coast Guard Reserve is the reserve component of the United States Coast Guard. It is organized, trained, administered, and supplied under the direction of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Assistant Commandant for ...
and served for eight years.
Career
In 1948, Bridges had an uncredited juvenile role in the iconic
film noir
Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American '' ...
''
Force of Evil
''Force of Evil'' is a 1948 American crime film noir starring John Garfield and directed by Abraham Polonsky. It was adapted by Polonsky and Ira Wolfert from Wolfert's novel ''Tucker's People''. Polonsky had been a screenwriter for the boxing ...
'', and a role as Bertram in ''
No Minor Vices
''No Minor Vices'' is a 1948 American black-and-white comedy film written by Arnold Manoff and directed by Lewis Milestone with Robert Aldrich as 1st assistant director. Created for David Loew's Enterprise Productions, it was the first of thr ...
''. In 1949 he played a third juvenile role in the film ''
The Red Pony
''The Red Pony'' is an episodic novella written by American writer John Steinbeck in 1933. The first three chapters were published in magazines from 1933 to 1936. The full book was published in 1937 by Covici Friede. The stories in the book ...
''. In the 1962–1963 television season, Bridges, along with his younger brother, Jeff, appeared on their father's
CBS anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...
, ''
The Lloyd Bridges Show''. He appeared in other television series too, including ''
National Velvet'', ''
The Fugitive'', ''
Combat
Combat (French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...
,
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on ...
'', ''
Mr. Novak'', and ''
The Loner''. In 1965, he guest-starred as Corporal Corbett in "Then Came the Mighty Hunter", Season 2, Episode 3 of the military series, ''
Twelve O'Clock High''. He found steady work in television and film throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He appeared in such feature films during that time as ''
The Landlord'' (1970), ''
The Other Side of the Mountain
''The Other Side of the Mountain'' is a 1975 American drama romance film based on the true story of ski racing champion Jill Kinmont. The UK title of the film was ''A Window to the Sky''.
In early 1955, Kinmont was the national champion in sla ...
'' (1975), ''
Greased Lightning
''Greased Lightning'' is a 1977 American biographical film starring Richard Pryor, Beau Bridges, and Pam Grier, and directed by Michael Schultz. The film is loosely based on the true life story of Wendell Scott, the first Black NASCAR race winn ...
'' (1977), ''
Norma Rae'' (1979), ''
Heart Like a Wheel
''Heart Like a Wheel'' is the fifth solo studio album by Linda Ronstadt, released in November 1974. It was Ronstadt's last album to be released by Capitol Records. At the time of its recording, Ronstadt had already moved to Asylum Records and ...
'' (1983), and ''
The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984).
In 1989, in perhaps his best-known role, he starred opposite his brother Jeff as one of ''
The Fabulous Baker Boys''. In the 1993–94 television season, Bridges appeared with his father in the 15-episode CBS comedy/
western series, ''
Harts of the West
Harts of the West is a humorous contemporary western about a Chicago family moving to a run-down Nevada ranch. The series consisted of 15 hour-long episodes that aired on CBS Saturdays, 9:00 to 10:00 p.m., from September 1993 until June 1994. ...
'', set at a
dude ranch
A guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism.
History
Guest ranches arose in response to the romanticization of the American West that began to occur ...
in
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
. In 1995, Bridges starred with his father and his son Dylan in "
The Sandkings", the two-part
pilot episode
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...
of the
Showtime science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
series, ''
The Outer Limits''. In 1998, he starred as Judge Bob Gibbs in the one-season ''
Maximum Bob'' on
ABC. He had a recurring role in the Showtime series ''
Beggars and Choosers'' (1999–2000).
In 2001, he guest-starred as Daniel McFarland, the stepfather of
Jack McFarland, in two episodes of the
NBC sitcom ''
Will & Grace''. He played a single father and college professor in the fantasy adventure film, ''
Voyage of the Unicorn
''Voyage of the Unicorn'' is a 2001 television film directed by Philip Spink and starring Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe an ...
'', based on the novel by
James C. Christensen
James C. Christensen (September 26, 1942 – January 8, 2017) was an American illustrator and painter of religious and fantasy art.
Christensen was born and raised in Culver City, California.Taylor, Scott and Walch, Tad"Of fantasy and faith: LDS ...
.
From 2002 to 2003, he took on the role of Senator Tom Gage, newly appointed Director of the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
, in over 30 episodes of the drama series ''
The Agency''. In January 2005, he was cast as
Major General Hank Landry, the new commander of
Stargate Command in ''
Stargate SG-1''. He also played the character in five episodes of the spin-off series ''
Stargate Atlantis'' as well as the two direct to DVD films ''
Stargate: The Ark of Truth'' and ''
Stargate: Continuum''.
His role in the film ''
Smile'', with Linda Hamilton and Sean Astin, showcased his personal beliefs in helping others.
In November 2005, he guest-starred as Carl Hickey, the father of the title character in the hit
NBC comedy ''
My Name Is Earl''. Bridges' character became recurring. Bridges received a 2007
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
nomination for his performance.
In 2008, Bridges co-starred in the motion picture ''
Max Payne
''Max Payne'' is a neo-noir third-person shooter video game series developed by Remedy Entertainment (''Max Payne'' and ''Max Payne 2'') and Rockstar Studios (''Max Payne 3''). The series is named after its protagonist, Max Payne, a New York C ...
'', based on the
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
character. The film also starred
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, businessman, and former rapper. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Mark Wahlberg, multiple accolades, including a B ...
and
Mila Kunis. Bridges portrayed "BB" Hensley, an ex-cop who aides Wahlberg on his quest to bring down a
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
. The film received mixed reviews, but Bridges' participation was noted for being a positive one. It was not the first motion picture with Bridges regarding the video game world; ''
The Wizard'' had him in a role as a landscaping company owner who was later found, like his son Jimmy (played by actor Luke Edwards), to have a skill with
NES games.
On February 8, 2009,
Cynthia Nixon,
Blair Underwood
Blair Erwin Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film ''Krush Groove'' and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series ''L.A. Law''.
Underwood has a ...
, and Bridges won a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
for
Best Spoken Word Album
The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album has been awarded since 1959. The award has had several minor name changes:
* In 1959 the award was known as Best Performance, Documentary or Spoken Word
* From 1960 to 1961 it was awarded as Best Perform ...
for their recording of
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...
's ''
An Inconvenient Truth''.
In 2009, Bridges guest-starred as Eli Scruggs on
the 100th episode of ''
Desperate Housewives
''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a t ...
'' and received an Emmy Award nomination for his performance.
In 2010, Bridges signed with Chris Mallick in the production of the film ''
Columbus Circle
Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South ( West 59th Street), and Central Park West, at the ...
''. On March 19, 2010, it was announced that Bridges would play the role of Joseph 'Rocky' Rockford, the father of private eye
Jim Rockford, on the pilot episode of a new version of ''
The Rockford Files
''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investiga ...
'', scheduled for production for broadcast in fall 2010. In 2011, he guest-starred as an old boyfriend of matriarch Nora Walker in ''
Brothers and Sisters'' and as an attorney, estranged from his son Jared Franklin in ''
Franklin & Bash''.
On January 3, 2012, Bridges took on the role of J.B. Biggley in the hit revival of the
Broadway musical ''
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' may refer to:
* ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' (book), a 1952 book written by Shepherd Mead and the inspiration for the musical of the same name.
* ''How to Succeed in Bu ...
'', taking over for
John Larroquette. He was contracted to play the role until July 1, 2012. However, the revival closed May 20, 2012.
On October 3, 2013, Bridges became a major character on the CBS television show ''
The Millers''. He plays Tom, the father of two children: son Nathan Miller (
Will Arnett) and daughter Debbie (
Jayma Mays). Tom, after forty-three years of marriage, has gotten divorced and has moved back in with his daughter, driving her crazy. Bridges joined the series in early March 2013.
Bridges has had several roles in films since then including ''
Underdog Kids'' and ''Lawless Range'' in 2016. He has also had guest roles on the shows ''
Masters of Sex'' and ''
Code Black''.
Awards
Bridges has 14
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
nominations with three wins. He is the only actor to win the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or Special more than once, with two wins.
*1992
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or Special, for ''Without Warning: The James Brady Story''
*1993
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or Special, for ''
The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom''
*1997
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or Special, for ''
The Second Civil War
''The Second Civil War'' is a satirical black comedy film made for the HBO cable television network and first shown on March 15, 1997.
Directed by Joe Dante, the film is a satire about anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States.
The film s ...
''
Personal life
Bridges married Julie Landfield in 1964, and the two divorced in 1974. They have two sons: Casey Bridges (b. 1969) and actor
Jordan Bridges (b. 1973). He married Wendy Treece in 1984. They have three children. Dylan Lloyd Bridges, Emily Beau Bridges and Ezekiel Jeffrey Bridges. Beau and Wendy have five grandchildren. Lola, Orson, Clark, Oliver and Parker.
Bridges is a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
. He has stated that if the script calls for his character to say
God's name in vain, he will ask the director if he can change the line.
Bridges has been a vegan since 2004.
Bridges, his brother Jeff and late father Lloyd were among six veterans – the others being
Jerry Coleman,
Bob Feller
Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Clevel ...
and
Brian Lamb – honored with the Lone Sailor Award by the
United States Navy Memorial
The United States Navy Memorial is a memorial in Washington, D.C. honoring those who have served or are currently serving in the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and the Merchant Marine.
It lies on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 7th Street ...
in 2011.
The award recognizes Navy, Marine and Coast Guard veterans who have distinguished themselves in their civilian careers.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
References
Further reading
* Holmstrom, John. ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995'', Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, p. 229.
* Dye, David. ''Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914–1985''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, p. 26.
External links
*
*
*
*
Chat: Beau Bridgestranscript at LifetimeTV.com
Beau Bridges interviewon
Texas Archive of the Moving Image
The Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) is an independent 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2002 by film archivist and University of Texas at Austin professor Caroline Frick, PhD. TAMI's mission is to preserve, study, and exhibit Texas film h ...
about Norma Rae in 1979
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges, Beau
1941 births
Living people
Male actors from Los Angeles
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of English descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Swiss-German descent
Audiobook narrators
Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actor Golden Globe winners
Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Grammy Award winners
Bridges family
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
United States Coast Guard enlisted
United States Coast Guard reservists
University of Hawaiʻi alumni
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
People from Holmby Hills, Los Angeles