Bridges was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actors Lloyd Bridges (1913–1998) and Dorothy Bridges (née Simpson; 1915–2009). He was nicknamed Beau by his parents after Ashley Wilkes\' son in Gone with the Wind. His younger brother is actor Jeff Bridges, and he has a younger sister, Lucinda. Another brother, Garrett, died in 1948 of sudden infant death syndrome. Beau has shared a close relationship with Jeff, for whom he acted as a surrogate father during childhood, when their father was busy with work. He and his siblings were raised in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles.\n', '

Wanting to become a basketball star, he played in his freshman year at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon, he later transferred to the University of Hawaii. In 1959, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard Reserve and served for eight years.\n', '

In 1948, Bridges had an uncredited juvenile role in the iconic film noir Force of Evil, and in 1949 he played a secondary juvenile role in the film The Red Pony. In the 1962–1963 television season, Bridges, along with his younger brother, Jeff, appeared on their father\'s CBS anthology series, The Lloyd Bridges Show. He appeared in other television series too, including National Velvet, The Fugitive, Bonanza, Mr. Novak, and The Loner. In 1965, he guest-starred as Corporal Corbett in "Then Came the Mighty Hunter", Season 2, Episode 3 of the military series, Twelve O\'Clock High. He found steady work in television and film throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He appeared in such feature films during that time as The Landlord (1970), The Other Side of the Mountain (1975), Greased Lightning (1977), Norma Rae (1979), Heart Like a Wheel (1983), and The Hotel New Hampshire (1984).\n', '

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