Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr

 Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998)

Bridges was a film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of actors Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges. He started his career as a contract performer for Columbia Pictures, appearing in classics such as A Walk In The Sun, High Noon, Little Big Horn, and Sahara. By the end of his career, he had re-invented himself and demonstrated a gifted comedic talent in such parody films as Airplane!, Hot Shots!, and Jane Austen's Mafia!. He acted in the role of "The President" in the comedy film Hot Shots! Part Deux. Among other honours, Bridges was a two-time Emmy Award nominee. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 1, 1994.

He left Columbia Pictures during World War II to enlist in the United States Coast Guard. Following his discharge, he returned to acting. In later years he was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, 11th District (California) and did several public service announcements for the Coast Guard. Bridge's Sea Hunt character Mike Nelson was sometimes portrayed in Coast Guard Auxiliary uniform. Because of his support, he was made an honorary commodore in the Auxiliary. Bridges' sons, actors Beau and Jeff, also served in the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve. Bridges was blacklisted briefly in the 1950s after he admitted to the House Un-American Activities Committee that he had once been a member of the Actors' Laboratory Theatre, a group found to have had links to the Communist party. He returned to acting after he was cleared by the FBI, achieving his greatest success in television. Bridges gained attention in 1956 for his emotional performance on live anthology program The Alcoa Hour, in an episode titled "Tragedy in a Temporary Town", written by Reginald Rose and directed by Sidney Lumet. During the performance, Bridges inadvertently used profanity while ad-libbing. Although the slip of the tongue generated hundreds of complaints, the episode won a Robert E. Sherwood Television Award, with Bridges' slip being defended even by some members of the clergy. Bridges had his biggest film hit in a long time in Airplane! (1980) a spoof of disaster films. On March 10, 1998, Bridges died of natural causes at the age of 85