Anecdotes

He was a close friend and mentor to Debra Winger. He once threatened to quit Un cowboy dans la ville (1980) because the studio did not want Winger cast in the lead.

Life partner of actor/writer Jack Larson.

Directed 3 actors to Oscar nominations: John Houseman (Best Supporting Actor, La chasse au diplôme (1973)), Jack Lemmon (Best Actor, Le syndrome chinois (1979)), and Jane Fonda (Best Actress, Le syndrome chinois (1979)). Houseman won the Oscar for his performance.

Bridges attended Arkansas State Teacher's College, before moving to Los Angeles, where he started as an actor in television dramas, as well as selling ice cream part-time. He wrote several screenplays, one of which (for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)) won him an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He later worked as a stage manager with John Houseman's UCLA Theater Group and directed his first play in 1966. He only directed eight films, beginning in 1970. Most famous of these was Le syndrome chinois (1979), which he also co-wrote. As a former actor, he acquired a reputation as an 'actor's director', able to bring out more finely tuned, nuanced performances from his cast.

In November 1999, the movie theater in Melnitz Hall on the campus of University of California, Los Angeles was named the James Bridges Theater in his honor. Bridges was a faculty member there early in his career.