Former Child Star Todd Bridges Continues On The Comeback Trail

Jet, Oct 18, 1999

During the '80s actor Todd Bridges won fame as the handsome, girl-crazy teen Willis Jackson on the popular sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes."

But when the show went off the air in 1986, Bridges left the spotlight. Unfortunately, the spotlight never left him.

Bridges became the focus of attention when he constantly made headlines as his once-hot career spiraled downward due to his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Then, he encountered several much-publicized run-ins with the law. The most notorious of these occurred in 1989 when he was charged with the attempted murder of a drug dealer. Bridges was eventually acquitted with the help of famed attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.

Bridges has come a long way since those dark days. Today, he says that he is drug- and alcohol-free. He and his wife, Dori Bridges, have been married for two-and-a-half years and are the proud parents of a young son, Spencer Todd Bridges.

"I've been sober for seven years," Bridges recently told JET. "I'm on a journey to do the Lord's work. I'm getting my career going."

He recently produced, directed and starred in an independent flick titled Black Ball. Bridges also has two other upcoming projects, Hollywood Horror and Labor Day, that he has completed.

Though Bridges is banking on making a comeback as an actor, he admits that it is a difficult road back to redemption in Hollywood. He's finding that few casting directors are willing to take a chance on sending him out on auditions based on his past actions.

"I have much more to overcome because it's a matter of people believing in me and trusting in me," he explains. "No one is beyond problems. It's just that mine were public and theirs weren't. I'm not looking for a handout, just an opportunity."

Equipped with a will of steel, Bridges isn't going to give up on the hope that he will at least get calls for auditions.

"Either somebody is going to give it to me or I'm going to make my own. I'm going to fight my way back."