Lloyd Bridges Is Dead at 85; Actor Starred in 'Sea Hunt' (original) (raw)

Movies|Lloyd Bridges Is Dead at 85; Actor Starred in 'Sea Hunt'

https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/11/movies/lloyd-bridges-is-dead-at-85-actor-starred-in-sea-hunt.html

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March 11, 1998

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March 11, 1998

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Lloyd Bridges, whose acting career spanned more than five decades and whose sons, Jeff and Beau, also became well-known actors, died yesterday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 85.

Although he had suffered from minor illnesses in the last year, he continued to work and had recently completed two feature films, ''Jane Austen's Mafia'' and ''Meeting Daddy,'' the latter with his son Beau.

In June of 1992, Mr. Bridges underwent open-heart surgery to clear blockages in his coronary arteries. Within six weeks, he exhibited his customary robustness, said he had never felt better and went to work on another film.

Tall, blond and craggy-faced, Mr. Bridges played a wide variety of roles in everything from summer stock to Hollywood films to television series. He achieved wide renown as Mike Nelson, the former Navy frogman who was the mainstay of ''Sea Hunt,'' an underwater adventure series that ran for 156 episodes from 1957 to 1961.

Late-night comedians, especially Johnny Carson, used to tell jokes derived from the frequency with which Mr. Bridges, always fit and trim and looking forever like a slightly aging quarterback, was seen daring the fates underwater or emerging from the sea unscathed despite sharks, shipwrecks and assorted malefactors. TV Guide described the show as ''an epic so watery that Lloyd Bridges's colleagues tell him they have to drain their TV sets after watching his show.''

The show did not end for lack of viewer interest, but because Mr. Bridges felt hemmed in by the format, which his producers refused to change. ''They wanted more cops and robbers,'' Mr. Bridges said. ''I wanted to look at the real villains of the sea, like the oil companies.''

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