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Jeff Bridges’ Wife Susan Geston Keeps the ‘Pushover Dad’ Grounded: She ‘Calms Me Down’
You could say Jeff Bridges was born to be an actor. The son of Sea Hunt star Lloyd Bridges and his actress wife, Dorothy, Jeff made his big-screen debut at 6 months old in the 1951 movie The Company She Keeps. “I’m a product of nepotism,” Jeff told CBS Sunday Morning in December 2019. “That’s how I got my foot in the door, through my dad.”
But Jeff’s parents didn’t just help him start out in showbiz — they instilled important fundamental values in him and his older brother and fellow actor, Beau. “My mother and father were very nurturing and wonderful examples of how to live your life,” says Jeff, 70. “What I learned most from my father wasn’t anything he said; it was just the way he behaved. He loved his work so much that whenever he came on set, he brought that with him, and other people rose to it.”
Jeff has lent that same warmth to roles starting with his Oscar-nominated breakthrough in 1971’s The Last Picture Show. “The character was an obnoxious son of a bitch, but Jeff is such a nice guy that I thought some of his goodness would come out and you could like him,” director Peter Bogdanovich exclusively tells Closer Weekly in the magazine’s latest issue, on newsstands now. “I was right!”
Though he comes across as blissed-out as his signature character — the Dude in The Big Lebowski — Jeff has been open about his struggles with anxiety. “We all have these little voices in our heads saying, ‘You think you’re going to pull this off?’” Jeff admits. “I meditate. That helps a lot.”
So does listening to other voices — those of his loved ones. “My wife, she often gives me the phrase that my mother used to give me when I would go off to do a job as a teenager: ‘Now remember: Have fun and don’t take it too seriously,’” says Jeff. “Ah, thank you. Now I get my wife to say that to me, and that kind of calms me down.”
This is only one of many gifts Jeff’s wife, Susan, has given him since they met on the set of the 1975 film Rancho Deluxe. “She was working her way through college at this dude ranch in Montana,” Jeff says. “It was love at first sight for me.”
The feeling wasn’t mutual — Susan turned down Jeff the first time he asked her out. But Jeff persisted, and they married two years later. “Sticking with a marriage — that’s true grit, man,” says Jeff, referencing another of his Oscar-nominated films. “If you change partners every time it gets tough or you get a little dissatisfied, then I don’t think you get the richness that’s available in a long-term relationship.”
Jeff and Susan are the proud parents of three grown daughters. “They’re all gorgeous and smart,” gushes Jeff, who’s also now a grandfather. Susan calls Jeff “a pushover dad and grandpa. They all have him wrapped around their finger.”
That’s one of the themes of Daddy Daughter Day, a forthcoming children’s book by Jeff and his eldest, Isabelle. “When your kids are young, you can say, ‘Hey, let’s pretend,’ but when they’re adults, spending time together can be challenging,” Jeff says. “Daddy Daughter Day gave my dear daughter Isabelle and I a reason to spend time together and have an adventure.” Somewhere, Jeff’s own daddy must be smiling.
For more on Jeff Bridges, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and be sure to sign up for our newsletter for more exclusive news!
