Tale of Two Bridges

I've been a fan of the Bridges brothers and their father for as long as I can remember. Tim and I both grew-up watching Lloyd Bridges in Sea Hunt and I've loved Beau ever since his starring role in the film Gaily, Gaily. As for Jeff, we've both seen almost all his movies, but I especially loved him in Starman and the recent True Grit reboot. As you can see below, Tim got to meet Jeff Bridges several years ago when he (Tim) worked for radio station KLOS.

Last night, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored the Bridges family by interviewing both Beau and Jeff at the L.A. County Museum of Art. I bought tickets as soon as I saw the announcement. The line of people to get in was around the building by the time we arrived, 45 minutes early.

The brothers talked affectionately about their father Lloyd and how both he and their mother encouraged them to go into acting. Jeff apparently tried to resist, but eventually joined the family business in his late teens. He earned his first Oscar nomination at age 22 for his supporting role in The Last Picture Show. 

Film clips were screened, illustrating the breadth of all three Bridges actors. Beau, in particular, seems to have had the most diverse career, playing everything from a lovably grumpy father in the current sitcom The Millers to a repressed homosexual in Masters of Sex. Both brothers talked about their acting process and were surprisingly open about their insecurities. They also praised the women in their lives, thanking them for keeping home life together while they travel for work. "Their names should be right up there in the film's credits!," Jeff said to a rousing round of applause.

The evening ended with the closing scene from their first movie together: the wonderful The Fabulous Baker Boys, about piano-playing brothers who are struggling to stay on the fringes of show biz. The real Baker boys exited the stage to a standing ovation.

Tim and Jeff Bridges in younger days