Inspiring Story behind Jeff Bridges and Susan Geston's 42-Year Marriage

Jeff Bridges and Susan Geston have one of the most enduring marriages in Hollywood. The couple has been married for over four decades and is still very much in love.

There was a time when the "The Fisher King" star Jeff Bridges was scared of commitment. In an interview with "Readers Digest," the actor shared how he was unsure about the concept of a lifetime commitment.

"I don’t know how it is for women or for other guys, but when I was young and in my 20s, I had a fear of marriage. "I thought it was a giant step toward death. So I did everything in my power to resist it—the idea was frightening to me, man."

THEY MET BY CHANCE

Celine Dion was right when she said that love can move the mountains. It was powerful enough to change Bridges' heart about marriage and commitment anyways. After he met the woman who would become his wife, he knew that he was ready to fall in love once and for all.

Susan Geston, A North Dakota native, was waiting tables at a restaurant to pay for her tuition. Bridges happened to be in the area for the filming of "Rancho Deluxe" at the time. Coincidentally, the actor happened to go to the same restaurant where Geston worked.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

The first time he laid his eyes on Geston, he could not help but fall in love. She was undeniably beautiful, but she happened to have a broken nose and two black eyes when they first met.

Bridges thought she'd been beaten up by a boyfriend and that he would be her savior. But that wasn't the case. Geston had been in a car accident a few days earlier. It took a whole day for Bridges to muster up the courage to ask her out but in the end, she said no to him.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

The duo ran into each other at the movie's wrap party. This time, Bridges asked her to dance with him and she agreed. After dancing together for some time, the actor took her out to look at some property at Yellowstone Ranch and they did just that.

It took no time for Bridges to fall in love and soon, he and Geston moved to LA to live together. A few years later in 1977, the lovebirds walked down the aisle.

MAKING IT WORK

The makeup man who was working with Bridges for the movie snapped a photo of the duo on the day they first met. "Here you are asking a local girl for a date," the makeup man said when he sent the actor that picture 15 years later, but what he didn't know was that they were husband and wife by then.

Just like any other couple, Bridges and Geston have their differences and their relationship isn't entirely fight-free, but they have discovered a way to sort things out without jeopardizing their relationships. Whenever they disagree on something, the couple sits face-to-face and talk things out instead of fighting.

"What they don’t tell you about marriage is that it just keeps getting better on all levels –emotion, sex, intimacy," Bridges shared with "Country Living." He and Geston have three daughters together, Isabella, Haley, and Jessica.