The now-iconic sitcom Diff’rent Strokes debuted in 1978, and actor Todd Bridges just opened up about the rocky road he faced on the show. Even though it’s now considered a classic, the public wasn’t entirely on board with interracial friendships at the time.
Bridges recently appeared on the podcast ‘Taboo’s Comics & Kicks,’ revealing that he received hate mail. In the late 1970’s and early ‘80s, the idea of two black children being adopted by a white father was a groundbreaking concept. While it might not seem like a big deal now, back then it was an almost cutting-edge concept. And that meant anyone associated with the show was subject to a critical backlash.
“We got hate mail from both sides,” said Bridges. “We got hate mail from whites. We got hate mail from blacks. They were like, ‘I can’t believe you’re hugging a white man.’ You know. And then white people are like, ‘You shouldn’t be hugging a black kid.’”
Even though it sparked scrutiny early on, the attacks didn’t last. Bridges explained, “And then all of the sudden, after like, I’d say a couple of months, everyone fell in love with the show. They realized that it’s about love. It’s not about anything else, you know? It’s about caring for people and about acceptance.”
This isn’t the first time Bridges has discussed race publicly. Last year, while appearing on the ‘Allison Interviews’ podcast, he said, “When I first moved to the San Fernando Valley, you know, the police, I used to be riding my bike with my white friends, and they’d pull me over and take my bike and handcuff me, and told me I stole my bike. And if any kid there could afford his bike, it was me.”
Bridges continued, “I think going through all that, I had a chip on my shoulder. I became angry with myself with everything around me, because I couldn’t understand how you could become so successful in this country and still be treated like you’re dirt, you know.”
Bridges came from a prominent Hollywood family. His father, James Bridges Sr., was a successful talent agent, and his mother, Betty A. Bridges, was a manager and an actress who appeared in What’s Happening!!, Mary Hartman, Wonder Woman, and more.
Bridges also gave fans a rare glimpse into his background acting in Hollywood, telling podcast host Allison Kugel, “Where I was fortunate about in the business was sometimes I’d go audition for a role that was strictly made for a white guy, but they would give it to me anyway because they knew I could handle it and I was good at it.”
The Diff’rent Strokes actor added, “But you still experience racism in the workplace also, because it’s, you know, me and Gary Coleman were the only black people on a show that time and we had no black crew members. You know. And then I started speaking up, and they finally got black crew members; we got a black director, you know, finally, so all this happened, where it was making us feel a lot better because we had people around us.”