Lloyd Vernet “Beau” Bridges III is an actor, a director and a holder of a great name. He is the older brother of Jeff Bridges, and of course the son of the great Lloyd Bridges. Beau was born in Hollywood, California just two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was delivered in candlelight because of a power failure. His parents immediately dubbed him “Beau” after a character in Gone With the Wind, which they were reading at the time.

His father Lloyed Vernet Bridges Jr., was of course a legendary actor in his own right. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment may have come early in life though, as he won the coveted first prize in the Fat Baby Contest. Young Lloyd impressed the judge, former President William Howard Taft, who thought the baby was as fat as he was.

A friendly looking gentleman with a friendly sounding name.

Back to Beau. While in college, he dreamed of being a basketball star and indeed played with UCLA in his freshman year. That wouldn’t last though, and he soon transferred to the University of Hawaii, only to drop out and pursue acting much like his father. Before he would break out as a movie star, he would first enlist in the Coast Guard, and served eight years in the Coast Guard Reserve. Perhaps as a result of that time, he is now active in conservation efforts in the California coast.

Mr. Bridges is perhaps best known for his role alongside brother Jeff in The Fabulous Baker Boys, and also appeared in last year’s The Descendants, TV’s My Name Is Earl, Jerry Maguire and nearly two hundred other television and film roles.