Betty A. Bridges, mother of Todd Bridges and “Good Times” actress, dies at 83

Bridges was a frequent fixture on shows like "Hill Street Blues", "ER", and "Scrubs" across her 40-year career.

Betty A. Bridges, a veteran guest actress in series like Good Times and Hill Street Blues and the mother of Diff'rent Strokes star Todd Bridges, has died at 83.

Todd shared two posts on Instagram commemorating his mother on Aug 29. The first was a still image of Betty overlaid with the text "1941-2024. Betty Bridges." The other was a montage of images of his mother set to Everly Fair's cover of the Donna Lewis song "I Love You Always Forever."

A representative for Bridges, Elizabeth Much, confirmed the actress' passing, but the cause and time of death are as yet unknown.

Bridges was a prolific actress whose career spanned 40 years. One of her first roles was as the character Charlene in a memorable 1975 episode of Good Times called "The Nude." Charlene, known around the neighborhood as "The Wiggler," approaches J.J. (Jimmie Walker) to paint a nude portrait of her as a gift for her husband. He acquiesces, to the chagrin of J.J.'s mother Florida (Esther Rolle), and later to the outrage of Charlene's husband, played by Carl Weathers.

Though Bridges was unforgettable as Charlene, and in the recurring role of Bina on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman the year after, and as Corporal Sedgewick on Charlie's Angels after that, she never found a long-term home on TV.

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Bridges made a career of guest spots on series ranging from the gritty Hill Street Blues (she played a woman accused of endangering her child's life when she was really trying to save him from his abusive father in a 1984 episode) to bubbly sitcoms like Scrubs (she played a sweet patient undergoing a bronchoscopy performed by Sarah Chalke's Dr. Elliot Reid in the series' final season).

She also appeared in films like A Night at the Roxbury and The Colony, as well as Building Bridges, a 1990 documentary chronicling the turbulent time son Todd had transitioning out of his Diff'rent Strokes role.

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Bridges also built up a venerable practice as an acting coach later in her career. In a 2023 interview with Vlad TV Todd explained, "My mom trained Nia Long, Regina King, my friend who passed away Lamont Bentley, Sanaa Lathan." He explained that she "trained a bunch of kids for years and years without even getting paid," but eventually built her coaching into the acting school, Kane Bridge Academy.

Bridges' husband James Bridges Sr. was a prominent agent and her other son Jimmy is also an actor, who has appeared on Good Times and Diff'rent Strokes like his mother and brother, as well as Shameless and Alias.

Along with Todd and Jimmy, Betty is survived by a daughter, Verda, adopted son Zerondrick, and 12 grandchildren.

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