Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges has revealed he came close to death while battling both cancer and COVID-19. Bridges and wife Susan told People that they were devastated when Bridges, 72, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. âWe were kind of numb,â Susan said. âWe just immediately went through the steps of doing what needed to be done.â He began chemo in Dec. 2020 that worked well but a month later, before COVID vaccines were available, he learned he had been exposed to the virus. â[Chemo] strips you of all your immune system. I had nothing to fight it,â he told People. âCOVID made my cancer look like nothing.â He said he was close to death. âThe doctors kept telling me, âJeff, youâve got to fight. Youâre not fighting,ââ Bridges said. âI was in surrender mode. I was ready to go. I was dancing with my mortality.â Almost two years later, he was able to return to acting.