Bridges attended Arkansas State Teacher's College, before moving to Los Angeles, where he started as an actor in television dramas, as well as selling ice cream part-time. He wrote several screenplays, one of which (for
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)) won him an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He later worked as a stage manager with John Houseman's UCLA Theater Group and directed his first play in 1966. He only directed eight films, beginning in 1970. Most famous of these was
The China Syndrome (1979), which he also co-wrote. As a former actor, he acquired a reputation as an 'actor's director', able to bring out more finely tuned, nuanced performances from his cast.