Photo: Daniele Venturelli/WireImage
Jeff Bridgesand his wife, Susan Bridges, have alove story for the ages.
The pair met in 1975 while Jeff was filmingRancho Deluxe,and they tied the knot in 1977. Susan and the actor went on to welcome three kids and have supported each other through some of life’s toughest moments, such as Jeff’s cancer diagnosis and hisscary battle with COVID.
While they’ve been married for more than 45 years, the couple seem to still be in the honeymoon phase.
“We don’t have to do much. Just being in the same vicinity feels wonderful,” Jeff told PEOPLE of Susan in May 2022.
So, who is Susan Bridges? Here is everything to know about Jeff Bridges' wife.
She met Jeff in 1975
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Susan is originally from Fargo, North Dakota. Whenshe met Jeff, she was 21 years old and workingas a waitressat a restaurant in Paradise Valley, Montana, to save money for college.
She is an actress and producer
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Jeff fell in love with her at first sight
TheTrue Gritactor has described meeting Susan as “love at first sight.” The pair met while Jeff was making the 1975 filmRancho Deluxein Paradise Valley, Montana, where Susan was working at the time. “I’m doing this scene with Sam Waterston and Harry Dean Stanton and I cannot take my eyes off this gorgeous, I didn’t know what she was, a maid, a waitress,I couldn’t take my eyes off of her,” Jeff said of their first encounter during a 2018 interview withToday.
While it was an immediate connection for him, Susan didn’t exactly feel the same way at first, and Jeff has admitted that asking Susan out wasn’t an easy task — once he “finally got the courage to ask her out,” she said no.
Despite the initial rejection, the two ran into each other again and hit it off. “She came to the wrap party and we danced and we fell in love and boom that was it,” Jeff said.
She married Jeff in 1977
Despite being “crazy in love” with Susan, as Jeff wrote in a 2014 essay forGood Housekeeping, he had hesitations about getting married.
“I came from such great parents and didn’t know if either Sue or I had that in us. Mostly the issue was losing my freedom,” he wrote. “After two years of ambivalence, I finally got up the courage to ask Sue to marry me, with the secret assurance in mind that I could always get a divorce. Thank God I finally got with the program.”
Jeff and Susan got married on June 5, 1977.
Jeff Bridges and wife Susan.Michael Buckner/WireImage
Susan was Jeff’s support system when he wasdiagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphomain October 2020. While Jeff is now inremission, the couple have opened up about the year and a half that he was sick, as well as his near-death experience with COVID-19.
“I had no defenses. That’s what chemo does — it strips you of all your immune system. I had nothing to fight it … COVID made my cancer look like nothing,” Jeff told PEOPLE of contracting COVID while in treatment for his cancer. “I was pretty close to dying. The doctors kept telling me, ‘Jeff, you’ve got to fight. You’re not fighting.’ I was in surrender mode. I was ready to go. I was dancing with my mortality.”
Of seeing her husband in pain, Susan said, “We didn’t know if he would recover … I said, ‘Save his life. No matter what you have to do.’ "
“It’s all like a bad dream now,” she continued. “And now’s the good dream part.”
While the experience was difficult for the couple, Jeff has said that some good did come out of it. “Who would say, ‘I’d love some cancer and give me a dose of COVID?’ But my ability to receive all the love and give it was just heightened,” he told PEOPLE. “Everything was turned up in the most beautiful way.”
She and Jeff have three children together
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Susan and Jeff are parents to three adult daughters: Isabelle, Jessica and Hayley.
The couple’s children are very important to them and the girls are equally as grateful for their parents, whose long-lasting relationship hasserved as an inspiration to them.
“They love each other, but they like each other, they spend time together. They make an effort to ask each other questions about what the other is interested in,” Jeff and Susan’s oldest daughter Isabelle told PEOPLE of her parents.
When their youngest daughter, Hayley, got married about a year after Jeff was diagnosed with lymphoma, the award-winning actor made it his goal to be able to walk her down the aisle, and heworked with a trainerto accomplish the milestone.
“Finally, one day I said, ‘Maybe I can do it, you know.’ And it turns out I not only got to walk her down the aisle, but I got to do the wedding dance. That was terrific,” he toldThe Independent.
She and Jeff are grandparents
Through their eldest daughter Isabelle, the coupleare grandparentsto two young grandchildren, Gracie and Ben.
In November 2022, Isabelle posted aphoto of Jeff dancingwith his granddaughter Gracie, captioned, “Learning to dance is a big part of the Bridges family tradition.”
The secret to their long-lasting marriage is mutual respect
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From love at first sight to marriage, Susan and Jeff’s relationship has been going strong for over four decades. In October 2020, the couple revealed to PEOPLE that the key to their enduring marriage ismutual respect for one another.
“We are quite different as people, and we celebrate that rather than making it drive us apart. I respect her wisdom, and I’m sure the girls do too,” Jeff said. “I’ve really been blessed.”
He added, “Time goes so fast, and it’s so precious. To spend it with people you love, there’s nothing richer than that.”
She and Jeff have walked many red carpets together
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Jeff has been with Susan almost as long as he’s worked in Hollywood, and she has supported him through it all, attending various movie premieres and award shows with him over the years.
In January 2024, the couple attended the 75th annualEmmy Awards. Susan dazzled in a silver fringe and sequin dress, while Jeff looked dapper in a black tuxedo.
source: people.com
