Seven Things to Know About Lloyd Bridges

1. Although Lloyd Bridges first appeared in films in 1936, he didn't make a major impact until High Noon in 1952. He played a key supporting role as deputy Harvey Pell, who refuses to stand with Gary Cooper's heroic lawman against the Miller Gang. He resigns because the recently-married Coop won't support him as the new marshal.

2. Bridges fared better on television, especially after delivering a riveting performance in "Tragedy in a Temporary Town" on The Alcoa Hour. Sidney Lumet directed this 1956 live drama about a community seeking "justice" against a Puerto Rican worker accused of assaulting a teenage girl. During his climatic speech on mob violence, Bridges became so emotionally invested in his role that he ad-libbed a four-letter word--marking one of the first uses of profanity on broadcast television. His performance earned him the first of two Emmy nominations (the other was for a guest star appearance on Seinfeld).

3. Lloyd Bridges' career was briefly derailed in the early 1950s when he was blacklisted for his earlier involvement with the Actors Lab, a theater group with alleged Communist Party ties. He quickly cleared his name with the FBI.

Strapping on his gear in Sea Hunt.

4. He shot to TV fame playing scuba diver Mike Nelson in the half-hour 1958-61 series Sea Hunt. Ironically, though he was an avid swimmer, Bridges had never scuba dived and had to learn how for the show. By the way, all three major TV networks passed on Sea Hunt, so Ivan Tors syndicated it--and turned it into a major hit.

5. Bridges appeared in numerous subsequent TV series, to include: The Lloyd Bridges Show, a 1962-63 anthology series; Rod Serling's offbeat Western The Loner (1965-66); San Francisco International Airport (1970-71); Joe Forrester (1975-76), in which he played a street cop; and Harts of the West with son Beau Bridges (1993-94). According to several Star Trek books, he turned down the role of Captain James T. Kirk.

6. Lloyd acted opposite his sons Beau and Jeff on several occasions. Both sons guest starred on Sea Hunt, The Lloyd Bridges Show, and The Loner. Lloyd appeared uncredited in Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), which starred Jeff Bridges in the title role. Lloyd also had a daughter. Lucinda, during his 60-year marriage to wife Dorothy. A fourth child, Garrett, died of sudden infant death syndrome.

Looking unhinged in Airplane II.

7. Lloyd Bridges' acting career got an unexpected boost when he appeared as a scary, glue-sniffing airport tower supervisor in the wacky comedy Airplane!. He subsequently appeared in other big screen comedies such as Airplane II: The Sequel, both of the Hot Shots! movies, and Jane Austen's Mafia (his final film, which was released after his death in 1998). My favorite of his later roles, though, has him playing Ted Danson's life-loving father in the warm comedy-drama Cousins (1989).