(August 1, 1941 – August 27, 2024)
Betty A. Bridges, who guested on dozen of popular TV series during a 40-year career ranging from Good Times and Charlie’s Angels to Lou Grant and Hill Street Blues to ER and 2 Broke Girls and later was a prominent acting coach, died August 27. She was 83.
Born on August 1, 1941, Betty Bridges got her screen start guesting on such 1970s TV shows as Police Woman, Charlie’s Angels and Norman Lear’s Good Times and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She continued to work consistently for much of the next four decades, mostly in TV. She made guest appearances in popular series including Wonder Woman; What’s Happening!!; Quincy, M.E.; CHiPs; Lou Grant; Diff’rent Strokes; Hill Street Blues; Dallas; Beverly Hills, 90210; Ally McBeal, The Practice, NYPD Blue, Scrubs and 2 Broke Girls.
She became a prominent Hollywood manager and acting coach and co-founded Kane Bridge Academy, an acting school where she was a popular teacher. She worked mainly with children, particularly minorities, and eventually ran her acting school out of her Los Angeles home, often letting neighborhood children take classes for free. Her students included Nia Long, Tony O’Dell, Sanaa Lathan, Marcus Chong, Shashawnee Hall and sisters Regina and Reina King, the family said.
