Lloyd Bridges Biography

A member of the experimental Actors’ Lab group in the mid-1930s, he made his Broadway debut in 'Othello' in 1939.

In 1941, Bridges was signed by Columbia and appeared in studio output of varying quality, such as 'Here Comes Mr. Jordan' and 'Talk of the Town'.

During the 1950s, he appeared in the cult science fiction film, 'Rocketship Z-M', and as deputy in the all-time classic Western, 'High Noon', alongside Gary Cooper.

Like the screenwriter of 'High Noon', Carl Foreman, Bridges was ‘graylisted’ from the Hollywood A-list in the mid 1950s due to his earlier radicalism and suspected anti-American tendencies.

As a result, Bridges moved into television and soon found great success in 'Sea Hunt', which became the most popular program of the era. Bridges became a star and a millionaire through endless re-runs of the show.

However, later TV outings such as 'The Lloyd Bridges Show' failed to recoup 'Sea Hunt'’s success.

It was not until 'Airplane!', in 1980, that Bridges again found his audience, and a new style – zany screwball comedy. In 'Airplane!', its sequel 'Airplane II', 'Joe vs. the Volcano' and the two 'Hot Shots' films, Bridges excelled in goofy comic role throughout the 1980s.

Bridges was also a fervent environmentalist and campaigner on green issues, active in, amongst others, the American Oceans Campaign and Los Angeles’ 'Heal the Bay' campaign.

Lloyd Bridges died of natural causes on the 10 March, 1998.