Jeff Bridges and his wife Susan have lived quite a happy life together, as they’ve celebrated 45 years of marriage, a rather rare feat when you’re an actor in Hollywood.
However, little did we know that Bridges was basically on his death bed last year, as he caught COVID shortly after his cancer diagnosis.
According to People, the 72-year-old actor weighed in on the discovery of his non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis:
“I had a 12-by-9-in. tumor in my body. Like a child in my body. It didn’t hurt or anything.”
Although the news of The Dude having cancer hit the world like a freight train, the Crazy Heart star said the chemotherapy infusions he was taking worked, and the tumor began to shrink:
“They got a cocktail that worked, and oh man, it worked fast. The thing just imploded.”
Things were looking bright for the actor, until he was diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly after he began chemo, and it hit him hard due to his weakened immune system from the treatment:
“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.
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.”
Susan weighed in on the scary sight, seeing her husband practically helplessly battle the sickness:
“We didn’t know if he would recover. I said, ‘Save his life. No matter what you have to do.’ “
Luckily enough, the medical team was able to eventually get Bridges off the ventilator, and was finally on the upswing:
Now, the 72-year-old has made a full recovery from COVID, and is currently in remission from the cancer after his year and a half battle.
Lastly, he said:
“We don’t have to do much. Just being in the same vicinity feels wonderful.”
The Dude abides… cancer and COVID free.
Of course, you have your classics like The Contender, Starman, True Grit, Hell or Highwater and more, but The Big Lebowski has to be the most memorable role of his award-winning career.
And as good as The Big Lebowski is, Crazy Heart might be one of my all-time favorite movies.
Starring Bridges as a washed up, alcoholic country singer, Maggie Gyllenhaal as a music journalist and his love interest, and Colin Farrell as the rising star that he used to mentor, it’s a downright incredible movie with an equally as incredible country soundtrack.
The movie features a song called “The Weary Kind,” which was written by Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett. It went on to win a Grammy, a Golden Globe and an Oscar in the following years. Bridges also won an Oscar for Best Actor for his performance as Otis “Bad” Blake.
If you haven’t seen it, stop what you’re doing and watch it right now. And if you have, watch it again, and then let’s all say a prayer for Jeff because he’s a damn legend.
Watch as he performs the Ryan Bingham-penned tune, “The Weary Kind,” with his band The Abiders.
