In January 1985, actor Jeff Bridges gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times discussing his involvement with the End Hunger Network and organized a benefit screening of his film "Starman" to raise funds for fighting global hunger. Alongside other Hollywood stars like Burt Lancaster, Gregory Peck, and Jack Lemmon, Bridges helped produce a television special that raised $176,000; plans were in place to air this special in 50 additional cities. The article focuses on how Bridges, motivated by the staggering scale of world hunger, worked with fellow entertainers to address the issue through both public awareness campaigns and fundraising efforts.
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Story summary
In January 1985, 35-year-old actor Jeff Bridges gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times about world hunger, expressing guilt over his comfortable lifestyle while learning of severe starvation issues. Bridges had been involved with the End Hunger Network for six years and organized a benefit screening of his film Starman. Alongside other entertainers, he helped produce a television special that raised $176,000, with plans to air it in 50 additional cities. He highlighted two key facts: more people die from hunger every three days than perished in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and more deaths occur due to starvation and related diseases over five years than in all wars and revolutions combined.
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In January 1985, as critics debated whether Starman would make Jeff Bridges a star, the 35-year-old actor gave a breakfast interview to the Los Angeles Times to discuss world hunger.
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actor → debate → hunger
In the interview with the Los Angeles Times, He told reporter Deborah Caulfield that learning how many people die of starvation left him feeling tremendously guilty, since he enjoyed eating in nice restaurants and living in a nice home.
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he → tell → home
He had been involved with the End Hunger Network for six years and had organised a benefit screening of the film.
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He → involve → film
With other entertainers, he helped produce a television special that raised $176,000 with plans to air it in 50 more cities.
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that → produce → cities
How did Jeff Bridges help launch a global anti-hunger movement
Bridges had been involved with the End Hunger Network for six years and had recently organised a screening of Starman to benefit it.
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Bridges → help → it
He told the paper he became involved when he learned about the immensity of the problem.
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he → tell → problem
He identified two facts in particular.
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He → identify → facts
The first was that the number of people who died at Hiroshima dies of starvation every three days.
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who → die → starvation
The second was that more people die in five years from hunger and related diseases than in all the wars, revolutions and murders of the previous 150 years.
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people → die → years
Bridges said the most impressive fact was that hunger did not have to continue.
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hunger → say → ?
He attributed this view to both conservative and liberal experts, who say there is plenty of food and technology available.
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who → attribute → food
He added that these resources had already ended hunger in about 40 countries since the Second World War.
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resources → add → War
How did Bridges bring Hollywood stars together to fight global hunger
This left Bridges feeling "tremendously guilty".
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This → bring → Bridges
He told the Times that he first felt he had to make some kind of giant, sacrificial gesture that he was not willing to make.
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he → tell → that
He explained his reluctance in personal terms, saying that he liked eating in nice restaurants, flying first-class and living in a nice home.
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he → explain → home
Rather than dwelling on that guilt, Bridges worked with friends to form an entertainment-industry contingent focused on world hunger.
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Bridges → dwell → hunger
The article names Bud Cort, Dennis Weaver and Valerie Harper among them, along with his brother Beau and others.
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article → name → brother
Bridges also linked the cause to his latest film, saying that in a way it was what Starman was about: that humanity is often at its best when things are at their worst, though people can become too calloused to see their own beauty.
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people → link → beauty
How did Bridges’ anti-hunger television special raise $176,000
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special → raise → 176,000
In the year before the interview, the group produced a show on the subject of hunger.
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group → produce → hunger
The programme was hosted by Burt Lancaster, Gregory Peck and Jack Lemmon.
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programme → host → Lancaster
When it aired in Los Angeles, the article states, it raised $176,000.
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it → air → 176,000
The article adds that Bridges said plans were under way to air the special in 50 more cities in 1985.
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plans → add → 1985
The same piece shows that his work on the issue ran alongside his film career, with the Starman benefit screening, the television special, and the upcoming Jagged Edge all discussed in the same interview.
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screening → show → interview
Bridges was searching for a project that could star the Bridges family, including his father Lloyd and his two brothers.
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that → search → father
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