Jeff and Susan Bridges: A Swooning Moment at the SAG Awards

I'm almost scared to acknowledge it, as if -- poof! -- two tender moments from the recent Screen Actors Guild Awards will vanish. Weeks of revelations about bad-boy husbands can make a blogger skittish, but here goes, my eyes closed, but still hoping.

Jeff Bridges won best actor for his performance as country singer "Bad Blake" in "Crazy Heart," but when he honored his wife, Susan, he became more of the delectable, middle-aged heartthrob. During his acceptance speech, he called out to his wife from the audience and she responded with a wave (scroll to 4:30 mark for Susan's wave):


My personal swooning moment was when I read about what happened backstage. Christie D'Zurilla in the Ministry of Gossip in the Los Angeles Times recorded what happened when Bridges was asked about his family, and how he brought his wife to the podium to answer the question:

"My wife did such a wonderful job, but like my dad, I was gone for a lot of the time. I love my girls very much, and my wife has raised them beautifully. Sue, why don't you come out here for a second?

"Ladies and gentleman," he said, "Sue!"

And he didn't leave her out on a limb: "The question is about raising daughters -- what did you do?," he asked, his arm around her under the spotlights. "I said most of the time you were there. I did my bit... "

"He was fun," said Sue, "and I was constant."

Bridges is one of my longtime favorite actors. He plays it straight. He plays it real. Without a beard, and especially with a graying one. While I know no more about his marriage than what I read -- the couple married in 1977 -- the glimpses, if indicators of the real thing, are endearing. As he said in a 2006 Reader's Digest article, he and his wife have experienced highs and lows. He also told Hello! in 2001:

"We've been married over 20 years and your marriage is bound to be tested, and every time it is and you're able to grow from that, then your love becomes bigger. You say, 'Gee, I thought that was the boundary; I thought my love was only that big.' But your love can grow and hold the thing that you thought was going to tear it apart and just make it like another piece of fruit in the bowl."

Bad-boy husbands (or wives) need not dominate the headlines 24/7. The excruciatingly public sagas of John Edwards, Tiger Woods, Charlie Sheen, and Gov. Mark Sanford linger. But Bridges' gesture to the mother of his three daughters is one example that seems to reflect the sweeter side of marriage. Call me idealistic, but why should selfishness and poor choices push love and loyalty from center stage? Besides, Susan Bridges' comment at the SAG Awards is a delightfully "uppity woman" moment that should not go unnoticed. She said so much by saying so little: "He was fun and I was constant."