Todd Bridges

In 1998, Todd Bridges and his brother James Bridges saved the life of a 51-year-old paraplegic woman who had accidently fallen into a lake and was drowning. The incident happened when her wheelchair rolled into a lake while she was fishing.

He married Dori Smith on May 25, 1998. His son Spencir Bridges was born on July 15, 1998. He is now divorced from Dori.

His son is also a child actor who appeared in the film ‘Daddy Day Camp’ and an ‘iCarly’ episode. Todd also has a daughter named Bo Bridges from a previous relationship.

Todd Bridges was born on May 27, 1965 in San Francisco, California, to Betty Alice Pryor and James Bridges, Sr. While his mother is an actress, director, and manager, his father is a talent agent. His siblings Jimmy and Verda are also in the acting profession.

At the age of four, he got his first modeling job posing for a magazine ad. When he was nine, he did a Jell-O commercial with his family. The gig led to more acting work for him.

His parents’ divorce in 1982 hit him hard. To make matters worse, he was terrorized by white supremacists in his neighborhood in 1983. He faced sniper shots, and his car was stolen and set on fire. Frightened by the assault, he started carrying a gun. One day he was pulled over by police for a traffic violation, and was charged with carrying a loaded, concealed weapon. He had to pay a $240 fine for the offense.

Todd Bridges was featured in ‘The Waltons’, an American television series developed by Earl Hamner, Jr. based on his book ‘Spencer's Mountain.’ He also appeared in ‘Little House on the Prairie’, a drama television series about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota in the 1870s and 1880s. It was based on Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of ‘Little House’ books.

He was cast in ‘Roots’, an American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's 1976 novel ‘Roots: The Saga of an American Family’. The series aired on ABC-TV in January 1977.

He was a regular on ‘Fish’, an American sitcom and a spin-off of ‘Barney Miller’ that aired on ABC from February 1977 to May 1978. Todd played a streetwise jokester named Loomis.

His performance in ‘Fish’ caught the attention of producer Norman Lear, who cast 12-year-old Todd in a starring role in the comedy show, ‘Diff'rent Strokes’. It proved to be his big break which changed his life and career. He played an orphan taken in by a wealthy white businessman. Todd then became a heartthrob and a household name. By the age of 18, he was wealthy enough to own a house of his own in Los Angeles.

In the 1980s, he appeared in a few music videos as well. In 1984, he appeared in Penny Ford's single ‘Change Your Wicked Ways’.

Todd Bridges’ performance as Willis Jackson on the sitcom ‘Diff'rent Strokes’ was much appreciated by the critics. Even though it was primarily a sitcom, several serious issues such as racism, illegal drug use, hitchhiking, kidnapping and child sexual abuse were often explored in the episodes.