text: Wanting to become a basketball star, he played in his freshman year at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) under legendary coach John Wooden, where he joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He later transferred to the University of Hawaii. In 1959, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard Reserve and served for eight years.
  Career
  In 1948, Bridges had an uncredited juvenile role in the iconic film noir Force of Evil, and a role as Bertram in No Minor Vices. In 1949 he played a third juvenile role in the film The Red Pony. In the 1962–1963 television season, Bridges, along with his younger brother, Jeff, appeared on their father's CBS anthology series, The Lloyd Bridges Show. He appeared in other television series too, including National Velvet, The Fugitive, Combat, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Mr. Novak, and The Loner. In 1965, he guest-starred as Corporal Corbett in "Then Came the Mighty Hunter", Season 2, Episode 3 of the military series, Twelve O'Clock High. He found steady work in television and film throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He appeared in such feature films during that time as The Landlord (1970), The Other Side of the Mountain (1975), Greased Lightning (1977), Norma Rae (1979), The Fifth Musketeer (1979), Heart Like a Wheel (1983), and The Hotel New Hampshire (1984).