Jeff Bridges didn’t think he’d ‘make it’ amid cancer and COVID-19 battles
Jeff Bridges didn’t think he was “going to make it” after battling both COVID-19 and cancer in 2020.
The 73-year-old actor was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2020 and contracted COVID-19 shortly afterwards and he explained it was important for him to express his gratitude towards his family when he rceived the Lifetime Achievement accolade at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday (15.01.23) because he wouldn’t have made it back to work without their help and support.
He told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “I was sick for two years – with cancer and COVID – and when I talked about my family … I wanted to, you know, talk about their support during that time.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it at all, let alone get going back to work.
“But because they supported me so beautifully, I was able to go back and finish ‘The Old Man’
“We were stopped in the middle of the season and it was very surreal. It was like we had a two year long weekend ya know?
“And then we came back to work and, you know, I’d say to Amy Brennamen and [John] Lithgow, and say, ‘I had the weirdest dream guys. I was in the hospital.’
“I couldn’t believe it. But their support during those times – and also ‘The Old Man’. Doing that show was terrific and I’m so happy we’re going to do another season starting in March.”
During his acceptance speech, the ‘Big Lebowski’ star dedicated his win to his late father Lloyd Bridges for encouraging him to act before praising his “supportive” family, including his mother Dorothy – who died aged 93 in 2009 – his wife Sue Geston, 69, and their three daughters, Isabel, 41, Jessie, 39, and Haley, 37.
He said: “This is a wonderful profession. He is so right. I am so glad I listened to him. The family that I grew up in was so supportive. My mother, some of you guys might have met her, she was the best actor in the bunch. We have Beau, my sister Cindy, so supportive. And I get to be supported by my beautiful, wonderfully talented wife, Sue. We have been married for 48 years. Three incredible daughters, Isabel, Jessie, and Haley.”
