Has Anyone Seen “The Dude” Lately in Montana?

I was digging through some of my old articles in our archives this week, when I found one I wrote about actor Jeff Bridges in 2020. People probably associate him most with his character, "The Dude," in The Big Lebowski. In the fall of 2020, Bridges announced he was battling cancer. More on that in a minute.

My article at the time was about how Bridges has some really cool film set pieces on his Montana property. And I'm not talking about some random, small trinkets from his movies, but literally entire buildings from a set.

Read More: Jeff Bridges Has Crazy Movie Props on His Montana Ranch

His Montana roots go way back

Bridges’ Montana love story started long before his health battle. He met his now-wife, Susan, at Chico Hot Springs in 1975 while filming Rancho Deluxe. She was a waitress at Chico, sporting two black eyes from a car accident, which apparently piqued his curiosity even more.

Their Paradise Valley property has some truly one-of-a-kind Hollywood artifacts.

When the director of Heaven’s Gate offered up the film’s leftover buildings, Bridges raised his hand. He trucked the cabin, barn, and whorehouse from the movie 200 miles south, reassembled them on his land, and left the bullet holes from the film right where they were.

A bleak diagnosis.

When he received his cancer diagnosis in 2020, Bridges was 70. The diagnosis sounded grim. Doctors found a 9-by-12-inch tumor in his stomach. (That’s not a typo.)

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By late 2021, he announced some fantastic news: the tumor had “shrunk down to the size of a marble,” and his cancer was in remission. His recovery wasn’t simple. He also battled a serious case of COVID-19 during chemo. But, as he told AARP in 2023, meditation, breathing exercises, and a steady focus on tiny victories helped him bounce back.

Has anyone spotted Jeff Bridges lately in Montana?

Montanans have a weird relationship with our celebrity residents. We complain about them, but at the same time, we generally respect their privacy. I scoured the internet to see if there were any recent confirmed sightings of The Dude in Montana. Perhaps someone saw him at a coffee shop or the hardware store in Livingston? I didn't find much.

However, we can certainly speculate that he and his wife have been lying low in Big Sky Country for the last several years. I mean, what better place to recover from a major health issue than the pristine mountains of Paradise Valley? Wherever you are, Dude, we hope you're doing well.