Todd Bridges Biography

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

Personal life

Bridges was born May 27, 1965, in San Francisco, California. He is the son of Betty Alice Pryor, an actress, director, and manager, and James Bridges, Sr., a talent agent. Bridges' brother Jimmy Bridges, nieces Penny Bridges, Brooke Bridges and Rachel Bridges, and sister Verda Bridges are all actors. Bridges' son, Spencir Bridges (born July 15, 1998), with his now ex-wife Dori Bridges (ne Smith), is also a former child actor who appeared in the film Daddy Day Camp and an episode of iCarly. Bridges has a daughter, Bo Bridges, from a previous relationship.

During a 2010 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Bridges revealed that he had been sexually abused at age 11 by a publicist who was also a family friend.

Legal issues

During his 20s, Bridges battled a crack cocaine addiction. In 1989, he was arrested and tried for the attempted murder of Kenneth "Tex" Clay, a Los Angeles area drug dealer who, prosecutors argued, had been shot by Bridges. Bridges pleaded not guilty to the charges and was represented by the high-profile defense attorney Johnnie Cochran. Cochran argued that Bridges was an abused minor who had been driven to drugs by an exploitative entertainment industry and was now being unfairly framed. A witness finally testified that Bridges was not present at the time of the shooting. Bridges was acquitted of all charges by a jury.

Career

Television

Bridges appeared on The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, and the landmark miniseries Roots, and was a regular on the Barney Miller spinoff Fish. But it was playing Willis Jackson, on the long-running 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 the passing of Rae in 2018, Bridges became the last surviving original castmember.

Bridges defeated Vanilla Ice on a 2002 episode of Celebrity Boxing. 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 on 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 US version of the game show 1 vs. 100. In the November 14, 2007 episode of MyNetworkTV's show, Decision House, titled "Burned Bridges", he appeared with his wife, Dori Bridges. He also had a recurring role on the UPN/The CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris.

In March 2008, Bridges appeared on TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest...; he continues to appear as a frequent commentator. That same year in October, he debuted as one of the contestants on Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling, on the CMT Network. He was a member of Team Beefcake (coached by former wrestler Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake). On the show, Bridges' wrestling persona was the character "Mr. Not So Perfect." In one episode, he put the smackdown on Tonya Harding, with a lead pipe. The judges praised him for his athleticism and his cunning at 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, Lovers or Losers: The Game Show, at the Plaza Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Music videos

Bridges has appeared in a few music videos. His first music video appearance was in Penny Ford's single "Change Your Wicked Ways" (1984). Almost 15 years later, he made a cameo in Moby's 2002 music video for "We Are All Made of Stars". In 2011, he appeared in the video for The Black Keys single "Howlin' for You".

Lifesavers

In 1998, Todd Bridges and his brother James Bridges were credited with saving the life of Stella Kline, a 51-year-old paraplegic woman. The woman 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 on the rescue, "We felt God put us there at the right time to save this lady's life, because there was no one else around."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	She's Out of Control	Water Man	Ind. film starring Tony Danza
1992	The Sounds of Silence	Joe Goodman	Ind. film, co-starring Dana Plato
1992	Homeboy	Johnny Davis	Ind. film, co-starring David Garrison
1996	Gangstaz	Tyrone	Ind. film
1997	The Girl Gets Moe	Dr. Glick	Ind. film starring Tony Danza
1997	Hoover Park		Ind. film co-starring Laura Harring
1998	The Waterfront		Directed by John M. Sjogren
1999	Flat Out	Dr. Acosta	Directed by John M. Sjogren
2000	The Thief & the Stripper	Burn	Directed by John M. Sjogren & co-starring Michael Madsen
2002	The Beach House	Todd
2002	The Climb	Eddie
2002	Welcome to America	Easy T	Directed by John M. Sjogren, co-starring Michael Madsen
2002	Scream at the Sound of the Beep	Lamar
2002	Pacino is Missing	Harrison Dodge	Ind. film, co-starring Dana Plato
2002	Baby of the Family	Ted
2003	Pauly Shore Is Dead	Cameo
2003	Ghost Dog: A Detective Tail	Power Plant Guard	starring Jack Wagner
2003	Dumb Luck	Lincoln
2004	Land of the Free?	Alex
2004	Curse of the Maya	Ruben Herardo
2005	Treasure N'Tha Hood	Henry Nails	Ind. film, directed by Greg Carter
2005	Issues	Carson	Ind. film, co-starring Laz Alonso
2005	I Got Five on It (film)
2007	Frankie D	Frankie D	Ind. film
2008	Darkroom	Charles the Barkeep	Ind. film, directed by Iosua Tai Taeoalii
2009	See Dick Run	ATM	Ind. film, co-starring Kel Mitchell and Page Kennedy
2009	I Got Five on It Too	Jimmy	Ind. film
2009	The Jerk Theory	Waiter (uncredited)	Starring John Henderson
2010	Big Money Rustlas	Scruffy Scrub #3
2010	The Apparition of Roxanne	Officer Johnston
2010	Do Me a Solid	Maurice	Short Film, co-starring Brent Huff
2011	King of the Underground	Todd	Co-starring Paula Jai Parker and Malcolm-Jamal Warner
2012	That's My Boy	Himself	Cameo
2012	Turning Point	Marvin
2014	Monsters on Main Street	Larry Goleman	Ind. film
2014	College Friday Night		Ind. film, co-starring Sara Fletcher
2016	Dependent's Day	Hank Wright	Ind. film
2016	Precious Mettle	Sam	Ind. film
2016	The White Sistas	Bishop Wilkins	Post-Production, directed by Paula Jai Parker
2016	Dead Ringer	Detective Billington	Post-Production, directed by Johnny Kearns
2016	Bar Chronicles	The Customer	Post-Production, Ind. film
2016	Nightblade	Detective Francesco	Post-Production, directed by Jim O'Rear
2016	Renaissance Man	Todd	Ind. film, screenplay by Kenneth del Vecchio
2016	Hospital Arrest	Prosecutor Denuyl	Ind. film, screenplay by Kenneth del Vecchio
2017	The Deaf Kid	Harold	Pre-Production, Ind. film
2017	Nat Turner: Story of A Prophet	Jack Waller	Pre-Production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Barney Miller	Truman Jackson	1 episode
1975	The Orphan and the Dude	Leonard Brown	TV Movie, directed by James Frawley
1975	Katherine	Robert	TV Movie
1976	Police Story	Little Walter	1 episode
1977	Roots	Bud	1 episode
1977	Little House on the Prairie	Solomon Henry	1 episode
1977	A Circle of Children	Todd	TV Movie, directed by Don Taylor
1977	A Killing Affair	Todd York	TV Movie
1977-1978	Fish	Loomis	Main role, 35 episodes
1977-1978	The Waltons	Josh Foster	2 episodes
1978	The Love Boat	Michael Jr.	1 episode
1978-1986	Diff'rent Strokes	Willis Jackson	Main role, 169 episodes
1979	The Return of Mod Squad	Jason Hayes	TV Movie
1979	CHiPs	Todd Bridges (uncredited)	1 episode
1979	Hello, Larry	Willis Jackson	3 episodes
1979-1981	The Facts of Life	Willis Jackson	2 episode
1980-1981	Here's Boomer	Turk/Benny	2 episodes
1983	High School U.S.A.	Otto Lipton	TV Movie, directed by Rodney Amateau
1988	Twice Dead	Petie	TV Movie
1991	The New Lassie	Deputy Kirby	1 episode
1992	The Ben Stiller Show	Todd Bridges	2 episodes
1996	Circle of Pain		TV Movie, co-starring Rosalind Cash
1997	L.A. Heat	Trevor	1 episode
2000	The Darkling	Baron	TV Movie, directed by Po-Chih Leong
2001	Son of the Beach	Todd Bridges	1 episode
2002	The Rerun Show	T.J. Davis	1 episode
2002	The Young and the Restless	Juice	8 episodes
2004	Jane Doe: Now You See It, Now You Don't	The Man	TV Movie
2005	Alien Express	Peter	TV Movie
2007-2009	Everybody Hates Chris	Monk	17 episodes
2012	World's Dumbest	Himself	1 episode
2014	Hotel P	Bryce	1 episode (pilot)
2015	Roommates on Elm Street	The Landlord	3 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2014	Tesla Effect	Mantus
2016	2064: Read Only Memories	Hayden Webber

Memoir

Bridges wrote a book, Killing Willis: From Diff'rent Strokes to the Mean Streets to the Life I Always Wanted (2008), discussing his childhood sexual abuse, drug addiction, criminal charges, and efforts to establish a public identity independent of the character, "Willis," he portrayed. He appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 28, 2010, to discuss the troubled past he chronicles in his memoir.