Todd Bridges

Todd Bridges
Bridges at the Big Apple Convention in Manhattan, New York on October 17, 2009.
Born	Todd Anthony Bridges (1965-05-27) May 27, 1965 (age 51) San Francisco, California, United States
Occupation	Actor, comedian
Years active	1975–present
Spouse(s)	Dori Smith
Children	2

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, and for his recurring role as Monk on the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. He was a comedic commentator from 2008-2013 on the television series TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest....

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., an 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), from his divorced wife Dori Bridges née Smith, is also a child actor and appearing in the film Daddy Day Camp and an iCarly episode. Bridges has a daughter, Bo Bridges, from a previous relationship.

In his 20s, Bridges battled a crack cocaine addiction for several years. In 1988, 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 successfully portrayed Bridges as 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.

Bridges appeared on The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie, and appeared in the landmark miniseries Roots. He was a regular on the Barney Miller spinoff Fish. But it was as Willis Jackson on the long-running sitcom Diff'rent Strokes that he made his name, along with fellow co-stars Conrad Bain, Dana Plato and Gary Coleman. Bridges, Mary Jo Catlett, Danny Cooksey and Charlotte Rae are Diff'rent Strokes' only surviving cast members.