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The
son of actor Lloyd Bridges, Jeff Bridges made his screen
bow as a petulant infant in the arms of his real-life mother,
Dorothy, in the 1950 Jane Greer melodrama The Company She
Keeps; his troublesome older brother in that film was played
by his real older brother Beau. The younger Bridges made
a more formal debut before the cameras at age eight, in
an episode of his dad's TV series Sea Hunt.
After serving in the Coast Guard reserve, the budding actor
studied acting at the Herbert Berghof school. While older
brother Beau was developing into a character player, Bridges,
thanks in equal parts to his ability and ruggedly handsome
looks, became a bona fide leading man. He had his first
major success with a leading role in Peter Bogdanovich's
The Last Picture Show (1971), for which he was nominated
for an Academy Award. Two years later, he won yet another
Oscar nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actor in
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). Bridges worked steadily
throughout the rest of the 1970s, starring in a number of
films, including Hearts of the West (1975) and Stay Hungry
(1976). The 1980s brought further triumph, despite starting
out inauspiciously with a part in the notoriously ill-fated
Heaven's Gate (1981). In 1984, Bridges won yet another Oscar
nomination for his leading role in Starman and continued
to find acclaim for his work, in such movies as The Morning
After (1986) and The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989). The latter
featured Bridges and brother Beau as struggling musicians,
as well as Michelle Pfeiffer in a performance marked by
both the actress' own talent and her ability to roll around
on a piano wearing a figure-hugging red velvet dress.
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