One of the most overlooked and under-appreciated actors ever, Jeff Bridges is not un-famous. It's just that with his evident talent (plus the fact that he's not very ugly), the guy deserves more recognition than he receives. Perhaps that's the way he likes it, dodging the media unless absolutely necessary - who knows? Does anyone really care? Goodness knows actors deserve some measure of privacy.

Anyway, if the name or the face seems familiar, it's because Jeff is the son of Lloyd Bridges, and younger brother of Beau Bridges. He's worked with the former in various television projects (including the TV-movies, 1969's Silent Night, Lonely Night, and 1986's Thanksgiving Promise - the latter also featured mother Dorothy, and nephew Jordan), and in 1994's Blown Away, and appeared as Frank Baker's kid brother Jack in 1989's The Fabulous Baker Boys opposite Beau. It's a fine lineage, and Jeff's acting skills have never really been in doubt: no matter how bad the film is, critics uniformly single out his performance for praise - pity they don't make more noise about it. He has twice been nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscars, for The Last Picture Show and Thunderbolt & Lightfoot. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (a rather dubious unit in my opinion) have twice nominated him for Best Actor Golden Globes - in the dramatic category for 1984's Starman, and in the comedic category for 1991's The Fisher King. Best Actor Oscar nominations were also earned for his role in Starman, John Carpentar's surprisingly tender alien-human love story disguised as a science-fiction road movie. He was also the proud receipient of the Independent Spirit Best Actor Award in 1994 for playing Jack Kelson in American Heart, a film which also marked his first producing credit.

Born on 4 December 1949 in Los Angeles (he's actually younger than Richard Gere!!), Jeff's career began in 1950, at the tender age of four months, when he made his movie debut as a baby in Jane Greer's arms in The Company She Keeps. He was reunited with her in 1984's Against All Odds, a "sort-of" remake of the original film noir Out of the Past, which also starred Greer. Throughout an adult career that has spanned more than 47 projects in 28 years, Jeff has survived working with Timothy (what an unfortunate surname) Bottoms, Bruce Boxleitner, Farrah Fawcett, Robin Williams, Cybill Shepherd (in her movie debut no less), Valerie Perrine, Clint Eastwood, Kris Kristofferson (!), Jessica Lange (also in her movie debut), Sally Field (twice! he must really like her), Glenn Close, Jane Fonda, Kim Basinger, James (4 words: Sean Young & Supaglue) Woods, Edward Furlong, Tommy Lee Jones, Rosie Perez, Rosanna Arquette (gak!), Sandra Bullock, Kiefer Sutherland (double gak!) and Barbra (the diva) Streisand - maybe there should be a game called "Six Degrees of Jeff Bridges". His project for 1997 was The Big Lebowski, written and directed by the Coen brothers, and co-starring Indie-king Steve Buscemi and John Goodman, as well as the ever radiant Julianne Moore. It was originally scheduled for release on Christmas Day 1997, but I guess the Coens are not vying for an Oscar this year. In the film, Jeff plays a man whose identity is mistaken for someone else's, and this leads to a whole series of misunderstandings. USA Today has reported that he is next working on "Arlington Road", with Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack.

Bridges has an awesome reputation in the business as being an actor who is reliable, focussed at his work, generous toward fellow actors (just check out his beautifully understated - and again ignored - performance which allowed Michelle Pfeiffer to shine in The Fabulous Baker Boys) and a nice guy to work with. His career choices do seem rather erratic - I mean, a remake of King Kong? A bad one at that? What was he thinking of? Well, he stands by his decisions, and has previously stated that he chooses diverse roles in order to avoid typecasting, something which Lloyd Bridges was saddled with after appearing in Sea Hunt on TV. However, there is one discernible thread which runs through most of Jeff's work, and that is his habit of playing unhappy or dark souls, or men with strong streaks of self-loathing. It's almost as if, after having won public acclaim as the sweethearted Duane Jackson in The Last Picture Show way back in 1971, he's been busy exploring moral decay, deconstructing that lingering image in the minds of the public. And to think that GQ once gushed that "Bridges...is the perfect man" (barf, barf)! Perfect or otherwise, he seems to be well-respected. In 1989, he became the youngest actor ever to receive a three-week, eighteen-film retrospective by the National Film Theatre of London (good taste, those Brits have). In July 1994, he received his own star along the Hollywood Walk of Fame beside his father's little piece of the sidewalk - I tell you this so you can make a trip to LA and do whatever you will along the strip in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre, and not because this actually means anything at all.

The following information is really nobody's business except Jeff's own, but since I (and many other people, I might add) know it, I might as well include it here. He has been married for the last 20 years (ie since 1977 for those who're too lazy to count) to Susan Geston, whom he met in 1975 whilst filming Rancho Deluxe. He has three daughters: Isabelle, Jessica and Hayley, and has not (yet?) been reported to be a bad parent - we'll see.

In his spare time between film projects, and when he is not exercising like a deranged madman (no one who's 49 years old has a right to look like that!), Jeff Bridges is also an avid artist, photographer and musician. He can be spied twinkling the ivory keys and singing "She's Sixteen (Beautiful and Mine)" together with Beau in The Fabulous Baker Boys. He has purportedly written more than 70 songs (no, I am not making this up), including one he sang on the Quincy Jones' 1970 soundtrack for John & Mary (no, I have not heard of this film either, let alone the song). Other musical credits include a too-bizarre-to-be-untrue recording of a duet with Burgess Meredith (I kid you not - it was part of a Rolling Stone interview done in those crazy days of 1975), an especially soulful singing expedition in the 1982 animated feature The Last Unicorn, and an energetic and credible rendition of "All I Have To Do is Dream" with Karen Allen, which can be found on the soundtrack of Starman. As an artist, his work has previously been featured in the Peter Weir film Fearless - from what I can tell, he's really not too bad a painter. Some of his artworks have been sold over the years, and Artspeaks magazine has reviewed his work as well. One of his earlier works, Andy (done in 1981) is worth upwards of US$1,500.00 - not very much, but quite a tidy sum, yah? He also designs masks for the Masks USA organisation. This is a body which is dedicated to aiding the mentally retarded kids in USA and Israel, and is affiliated to the Association for Help of Retarded Children (AHRC). Bridges has also taken to toting his camera to work and snapping on-the-set photographs which he compiles for cast and crew of the various films he's worked on since 1991's Texasville. In 1993, he was invited to hold a surprisingly successful exhibition of some of these photographs at the Gallery of Contemporary Photography in Santa Monica. The event was entitled "Losing the Light: Photographs from the Set", and yes, I am rather bitter that I cannot get my hands on even a flyer or programme of the event. Since then, he has established a working relationship with the gallery, and his photographic work is regularly offered for sale there (no, I don't know what average prices are like). All proceeds from these sales, together with the profits from the artwork sales, go to the End Hunger Network. This is a charitable organisation which Jeff co-founded in 1983, dedicated to eradicating hunger and starvation in urban America. His recent efforts in this area include donating proceeds from the sale of the American Heart video to this organisation and 1996's launch of the "Fast Forward to End Hunger" drive which roped in the Video Software Dealers Association of USA to promote awareness and encourage efforts in this movement. Seems like he's a pretty decent guy, doesn't it?

Jeff has yet to cross that final hurdle professionally - no, not winning the Oscar - directing. He has been developing the 1993 Newbery Prize Winning children's book, "The Giver" (by Lois Lowry - and it is a fascinating book which will probably appeal to adults more than children), with plans to direct the film himself. (Latest update: Jeff won't be directing the adaptation of "The Giver" afterall. He will, however, produce the project.) For audiences, however, it's his presence in front of the camera which is sought after (by me anyway). Watching him in a film, is akin to meeting the character he's playing for yourself; the depth of characterisation he invests makes the audience immediately identify and believe in him. It's time for fans of his work to make some noise and be heard. Won't you join me?

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