Todd Bridges facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Todd Bridges
Bridges at the Chiller Theatre Expo in 2017
Born	Todd Anthony Bridges (1965-05-27) May 27, 1965 (age 59) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1970–present
Spouse(s)	Dori Smith (divorced) Bettijo Hirschi (m. 2022)
Children	2
Relatives	Jimmy Bridges (brother)

Todd Anthony Bridges (born May 27, 1965) is an American actor. He portrayed Willis Jackson on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes and had a recurring role as Monk on the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. Bridges worked as a commentator on the television series TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest... from 2008 to 2013.

Early life

Bridges was born on May 27, 1965, in San Francisco, California, the son of Betty Alice Pryor, an actress, director and manager, and James Bridges Sr., a talent agent. His brother Jimmy Bridges and sister Verda Bridges are also actors.

Career

Television

Bridges (at top right) with the cast of Fish, 1977

Bridges appeared on The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, "The Love Boat" Season 2 Episode 5, and the landmark miniseries Roots. He was a regular on the Barney Miller spinoff Fish. It was playing Willis Jackson on the NBC/ABC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes that made him a household name, along with those of fellow co-stars Conrad Bain, Charlotte Rae, Dana Plato, and Gary Coleman. With Rae's death in 2018, Bridges became the last surviving original cast member.

Bridges appeared in the 2002 special Celebrity Boxing with friend Vanilla Ice, whom he defeated. In 2006, Bridges appeared as a contestant on a celebrity episode of Fear Factor but was eliminated after the first stunt. Also in 2006, he appeared as a contestant on the Fox reality show Skating with Celebrities but was eliminated in the second episode of the show because he was using roller skates instead of ice skates. In January 2007, he appeared as a member of the "mob" on the American version of the game show 1 vs. 100. He and his wife Dori Bridges appeared in the November 14, 2007 episode of the MyNetworkTV show Decision House titled "Burned Bridges." He also had a recurring role as Monk on the UPN/The CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris.

The cast of Diff'rent Strokes with guest star Nancy Reagan in 1983

In March 2008, Bridges appeared on TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest..., on which he continues to appear as a frequent commentator. That October, he debuted as a contestant on Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling on CMT as a member of Team Beefcake (coached by former wrestler Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake). Bridges' wrestling persona was the character Mr. Not So Perfect. In one episode, he defeated Tonya Harding with a lead pipe. The judges praised him for his athleticism and his cunning while defeating Harding. After reaching the finals along with Butterbean and Dustin Diamond, Bridges was defeated by Dennis Rodman. In 2015, Bridges was the host of a live game show titled Lovers or Losers: The Game Show at the Plaza Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. In 2022, Bridges was announced as a HouseGuest competing in the third season of Celebrity Big Brother.

Music videos

Bridges has appeared in several music videos. His first appearance was in Penny Ford's single "Change Your Wicked Ways" (1984). He made a cameo in Moby's 2002 music video for "We Are All Made of Stars" and in the video for the Black Keys' 2011 single "Howlin' for You."

Personal life

Bridges' son Spencir Bridges (born July 15, 1998) from his marriage to former wife Dori Bridges (née Smith) is also a former child actor who appeared in the film Daddy Day Camp and an episode of iCarly. Bridges also has a daughter from a previous relationship.

In 1998, Bridges and his brother James saved the life of Stella Kline, a 51-year-old paraplegic woman who nearly drowned when her wheelchair rolled into a lake while she was fishing. Kline said: "I was thanking God that he was there and you know, everybody's been saying nothing but bad stuff about Todd Bridges on the news and in the papers... He has a heart of gold." Bridges remarked: "We felt God put us there at the right time to save this lady's life, because there was no one else around."

.....

On September 25, 2022, he married designer Bettijo Hirschi.

Memoir

..... He appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 28, 2010 to discuss the troubled past that he had chronicled in his memoir.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

See also

In Spanish: Todd Bridges para niños