mom of Todd Bridges, ‘Good Instances’ actress was 83

Betty A. Bridges, a veteran visitor actress in collection like Good Instances and Hill Road Blues and the mom of Diff’lease Strokes star Todd Bridges, has died at 83.

Todd shared two posts on Instagram commemorating his mom on Aug 29. The primary was a nonetheless picture of Betty overlaid with the textual content “1941-2024. Betty Bridges.” The opposite was a montage of pictures of his mom set to Everly Truthful’s cowl of the Donna Lewis music “I Love You All the time Perpetually.”

A consultant for Bridges, Elizabeth A lot, confirmed the actress’ passing, however the trigger and time of demise are as but unknown.

Bridges was a prolific actress whose profession spanned 40 years. One in every of her first roles was because the character Charlene in a memorable 1975 episode of Good Instances known as “The Nude.” Charlene, identified across the neighborhood as “The Wiggler,” approaches J.J. (Jimmie Walker) to color a nude portrait of her as a present for her husband. He acquiesces, to the chagrin of J.J.’s mom Florida (Esther Rolle), and later to the outrage of Charlene’s husband, performed by Carl Weathers.

Although Bridges was unforgettable as Charlene, and within the recurring function of Bina on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman the 12 months after, and as Corporal Sedgewick on Charlie’s Angels after that, she by no means discovered a long-term residence on TV.

Bridges made a profession of visitor spots on collection starting from the gritty Hill Road Blues (she performed a lady accused of endangering her kid’s life when she was actually making an attempt to avoid wasting him from his abusive father in a 1984 episode) to bubbly sitcoms like Scrubs (she performed a candy affected person present process a bronchoscopy carried out by Sarah Chalke’s Dr. Elliot Reid within the collection’ ultimate season).

She additionally appeared in movies like A Evening on the Roxbury and The Colony, in addition to Constructing Bridges, a 1990 documentary chronicling the turbulent time son Todd had transitioning out of his Diff’lease Strokes function.

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Bridges additionally constructed up a venerable apply as an appearing coach later in her profession. In a 2023 interview with Vlad TV Todd defined, “My mother educated Nia Lengthy, Regina King, my buddy who handed away Lamont Bentley, Sanaa Lathan.” He defined that she “educated a bunch of children for years and years with out even getting paid,” however finally constructed her teaching into the appearing college, Kane Bridge Academy.

Bridges’ husband James Bridges Sr. was a distinguished agent and her different son Jimmy can also be an actor, who has appeared on Good Instances and Diff’lease Strokes like his mom and brother, in addition to Shameless and Alias.

Together with Todd and Jimmy, Betty is survived by a daughter, Verda, adopted son Zerondrick, and 12 grandchildren.