Lloyd Bridges

His father, Lloyd Vernet Bridges Sr. (born May 1, 1887), died on his 75th birthday (May 1, 1962). His mother, Harriet Evelyn Brown (born January 15, 1893), turned 20 the day Lloyd was born.

The star of many land and underwater adventures, Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was born on January 15, 1913 in San Leandro, California, to Harriet Evelyn (Brown) and Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Sr. , who owned a movie theater and also worked in the hotel business. He grew up in various Northern California towns. His father wanted him to become a lawyer, but young Lloyd's interests turned to acting while at the University of California at Los Angeles. (Dorothy Dean Bridges, Bridges' wife of more than 50 years, was one of his UCLA classmates, and appeared opposite him in a romantic play called "March Hares. ") He later worked on the Broadway stage, helped to found an off-Broadway theater, and acted, produced and directed at Green Mans ions, a theater in the Catskills.

In 1914, he was awarded the winner's cup in a fat-baby contest by its judge, former President William Howard Taft, who thought Lloyd was as fat as he was.

Attended and graduated from Petaluma High School in Petaluma, California (1930).

The Bridges family made its way from North Carolina to Arkansas to Kansas, to California to Oregon to California through successive generations. Lloyd's great grandfather James Graham Bridges fought with the Confederacy in the 35th Arkansas Infantry.

Bridges made his first films in 1936, and went under contract to Columbia in 1941.

He appeared in three films which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), The Talk of the Town (1942) and High Noon (1952).

He has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: A Walk in the Sun (1945), High Noon (1952) and Airplane! (1980).

His second-born son, Garrett Myles Bridges (born June 14, 1948), died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) on August 3, 1948.

Allegations that Bridges had been involved with the Communist Party threatened to derail his career in the early 1950s, but he resumed work after testifying as a cooperative witness before the House Un-American Activities, admitting his past party membership and recanting.

Making the transition to television, Bridges became a small screen star of giant proportions by starring in Sea Hunt (1958), the country's most successful syndicated series.

Was considered for the role of Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek: The Original Series (1966), which went to William Shatner.

Trouper Bridges worked right to the end, winning even more new fans with his spoofy portrayals in the movies Airplane! (1980) and Hot Shots! (1991), and their respective sequels.

The Seinfeld (1989) episode "The Burning" was dedicated "In memory of our friend Lloyd Bridges", who played Izzy Mendelbaum in "The English Patient" and "The Blood".

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7065 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 1, 1994.

Interviewed in Tom Weaver's book "They Fought in the Creature Features" (McFarland & Co., 1995).

His final film, the comedy film Mafia! (1998), was dedicated to his memory.