If Dorothy's intention was to foster creativity and confidence, it worked. (And not only on Jeff. Brother Beau, now 72, became a movie star in his own right; sister Lucinda, 60, is a

painter.) Lloyd gave his offspring their first acting roles; Jeff debuted on _Sea Hunt a_t age 8. More important, he gave them wise counsel — on professionalism and on how to treat other

people. During set visits, Bridges saw the joy his father took in his work: "He had such tremendous fun with what he was doing, and the feeling was contagious." The boy also

watched his dad stand up for his beliefs. On one occasion, says Bridges, "this director was taking out his frustration on an assistant. My dad went up to him and said, 'Frank,

parents were wondering if he would amount to anything," Beau recalls. "I kept assuring them, 'Give him time — he's got great gifts.' He'd picked up my old

electric guitar and really took to it. I thought that was where he was going to find success." Jeff Bridges with his wife Susan Geston Getty Images College was not in the cards, but the

draft was; to avoid Vietnam, Bridges joined the Coast Guard Reserve. Over the next few years, he did regular stints on buoy tenders. A chaplain turned him on to the radical Christian

writings of Nikos Kazantzakis — one of Bridges' formative encounters with alternative spirituality. Later came transcendental meditation, LSD, est (Erhard Seminars Training) and other

paths he hoped would lead to enlightenment. Meanwhile, he ambled into the movies. Bridges' third big-screen outing, in _The Last Picture Show _(1971), earned him his first Oscar

nomination. It wasn't until five productions later, however, that he committed to being an actor rather than a musician or artist. While making _The Iceman Cometh _(1973), he witnessed

some of the grand old men of American cinema at work: "To see Fredric March struggling with getting something right, or Lee Marvin … They were dealing with the same stuff I was."

Before shooting one scene, Bridges noticed Robert Ryan's hands were sweating. "I said, 'Bob, how can you be nervous after all these years?' He said, 'I'd be

really scared if I wasn't scared.' I realized that fear doesn't necessarily go away, but you befriend it." He was hooked. 'THE DUDE' FINDS LASTING ROMANCE In

his personal life, Bridges continued to drift — dating starlets and partying immoderately. But in 1974, he found his anchor. He was in a hot tub at a Montana dude ranch, shooting _Rancho

Deluxe_, when one of the lodging's service workers walked by. The slim blonde had two black eyes and a broken nose from a recent car crash, but her beauty hit Bridges like a bowling

ball scoring a strike. After drying off, he asked her out; she said no. At the film's wrap party, though, she consented to dance with him. She also agreed to accompany him to a ranch he

was thinking of buying. On the drive out, he took note of her relaxed warmth and wry humor and had the uncanny sensation that the woman at his side was his future wife. The idea terrified

him — at 24, he wasn't ready to foreclose on his options. "My mother used to say I have something called abulia, a difficulty making choices," he says. "It's really

true." Sue, then 20, was from Fargo, North Dakota, the daughter of an architect and a professor. She came to share Bridges' sense they were destined to be together and moved in

with him in L.A. After three years, though, she grew tired of trusting to fate. When she got a job offer in Montana, she delivered an ultimatum. As Bridges recalls, "Sue said, 'I

know you love me, but I want a family. If you can't answer to that, I'm going to find it somewhere else.' " He fell to his knees and proposed. They were married five days

later. "Sue brings Jeff down to earth," says Loyd Catlett, his longtime friend and stand-in. "In this business, you've got everybody telling you how great you are. In a

loving way, she says, 'All right, honey, let's get down to reality.' " "I think she was responsible for Jeff getting healthy, and taking responsibility for his

life," adds brother Beau. "She focused him." Jeff Bridges urbane silver fox Jeff Lipsky Bridges often speaks of himself as a kite, and of Sue as the person holding the string

so he can safely soar. Yet, for a long time he resented being tethered. He and Sue fought often, but his parents had taught him that walking away was not the answer. Eventually, the couple

developed a technique for defusing tension: They sit face-to-face. One talks, and the other listens — no interruptions. Then they switch.