Who isn’t a fan of “the Dude?” For those who don’t know, Jeff Bridges is an Oscar-nominated, 68-year-old actor who has starred in many films throughout the years. Some of his most iconic roles include the lead role in The Big Lebowski, though he also received acclaim for recent performances in Crazy Heart (for which he won an Oscar) and True Grit. Still, what many don’t know is that Bridges is something of a rarity among Hollywood stars.
That’s because Bridges has been married to his wife, Susan Geston, for more than 40 years.
Geston and Bridges met in 1975 at a restaurant in Montana.
Bridges asked her out, she said yes and the two went dancing. Geston moved to California with Bridges and wanted to get married, though Bridges was hesitant to make a lifelong commitment. In 1977, Geston put her foot down—if he wouldn’t marry her, she would move back to Montana for good.
After that, Bridges married Geston to make sure the love of his life wouldn’t get away.
Through the years, the pair even had three children together.
Still, although Bridges and Geston still have a strong and abiding love for one another, the path hasn’t always been easy. Despite the road bumps, Bridges says that the deep intimacy is completely worth it. “What you don’t know until you get married is that all the other doors close—which is true,” he said. “But this doorway you open is a hallway lined with all these other brilliant doors—kids, deeper intimacy, adventures and everything else.”
As of today, the couple has even worked on more than 50 movies together.
To get to the place they are now, Bridges and Geston had to have a lot of fights. Through the process, they learned better ways to communicate their needs and how to work through the things that bothered them. “My marriage just gets better and better every year,” Bridges says. “If you change partners every time it gets tough or you get a little dissatisfied, then you don’t get the richness that’s available in a long-term relationship.”
Bridges and Geston are adorable together—and they even have photos from the very first moments they were together.
Wherever he goes, Bridges carries the photos with him as a reminder of their life together. “They’re my prized possessions,” he says. Above all, this story shows just how strong a marriage can be when we give it a chance—strong enough to hold for 40 years and beyond.
Congratulations to Bridges and Geston on their incredible relationship!
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