Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is a four-time Academy Award-nominated American actor and musician. His most notable films include The Last Picture Show, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Tron, Starman, The Fisher King, The Big Lebowski, Seabiscuit, and Iron Man.

Personal life

Jeffrey Bridges was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Dorothy Bridges (née Simpson) and actor Lloyd Bridges. He has two older brothers, Beau and Garrett, and one younger sister, Lucinda. His brother, Garrett, died of sudden infant death syndrome in 1948. He shared a close relationship with his brother, actor Beau Bridges, who acted as a surrogate father during his earlier life when their real father was busy with work. He and his siblings were raised in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles.

Bridges is an uncle of Jordan Bridges. He married Susan Geston in 1977. He met Geston during the shooting of the movie Rancho Delux which was filmed on a ranch where Geston worked as a maid. The couple have three daughters: Isabelle (born in 1981), Jessica Lily (born in 1983), and Hayley Roselouise (born in 1985). He is also a known marijuana user; in an interview, he admitted to ceasing smoking during filming of The Big Lebowski, but has not "permanently kicked the habit."

Film career

As a teenager, Bridges appeared, along with his brother Beau, on their father's CBS anthology series, The Lloyd Bridges Show (1962-1963).

His first major role was in the 1971 movie The Last Picture Show for which he garnered a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was nominated again for the same award for his performance opposite Clint Eastwood in the 1974 film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. One of his better known roles was in the 1982 science-fiction cult classic Tron, in which he played Kevin Flynn, a video game programmer. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1984 for playing the alien in Starman. He was also acclaimed for his roles in the thriller Against All Odds and the crime drama Jagged Edge. His role in Fearless is recognized by some critics to be one of his best performances. One critic dubbed it a masterpiece; Pauline Kael wrote that he 'may be the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived'. He also appeared as "The Dude" in the Coen Brothers' classic cult film ''The Big Lebowski.

In 2000, he was nominated for his fourth Academy-Award for his role in The Contender. He also starred in the 2005 Terry Gilliam movie Tideland, his second with the director (the first being 1991's The Fisher King). He plays the role of Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger in the 2008 Marvel motion picture, Iron Man. In July 2008 he was shown in the Comic Con teaser for TR2N, the upcoming sequel to Tron; leading fans to assume he would reprise the role of Flynn from the 1982 classic film.