Jeff Bridges is set to receive one of the prestigious honors that can be bestowed upon an actor — the Cecil B. DeMille award. But before The Dude himself is celebrated at the 2019 Golden Globe Awards, relive all of the highlights from his incredible acting career.
1. While his role of Kevin Flynn in the movie Tron was his breakout role, he was actually nominated for an Academy Award 11 years before that movie came out. In his first major movie role, Jeff was given a nod for The Best Picture Show in 1971.
2. A collaborator with the Cohen brothers, Jeff’s most iconic role is that of The Dude in The Big Lebowski. They also worked together on the film remake of True Grit.
3. First nominated for an Academy Award when he was 22, Jeff finally won the Oscar for his performance in Crazy Heart in 2010. In addition to The Last Picture Show and Crazy Heart, he’s also been nominated for his roles in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Starman, The Contender, True Grit, and Hell or High Water.
4. Jeff was unsure if he wanted to remain in the acting profession, given that his father Lloyd Bridges was a veteran actor himself. “Yeah, I struggled with really committing to being an actor,” he told W Magazine. “My father, Lloyd Bridges, was so enthusiastic about all his kids going into showbiz and, you know, what kid wants to do what their parents want them to do? Plus that whole nepotism thing, so I resisted quite a bit. The first time I really realized, ‘No, I can do this,’ was kinda late in my career.”
5. He recently co-produced and narrated the documentary Living in the Future’s Past, a documentary about climate change (Jeff previously lost his house to a California mudslide). “I saw it as an opportunity,” he told The Independent. “to make a difference, to head towards the image of the world that I wanna create. You’ve got Trump, and you’ve got a lot of the politicians who want to take us in another way, and that’s inspired me to take action.