The Story Of Jeff Dowd, The Real Dude Who Inspired The Dude In The Big Lebowski

There are some film characters that are so impossibly quirky, you cannot believe even a scaled-back version of them exists in real life. Many of these people reside in the twisted universe of Joel and Ethan Coen, and the majority of these oddballs can be found in their 1998 soft-boiled stoner mystery "The Big Lebowski." It's a sordid tale featuring marmot-brandishing nihilist thugs, a pederast ex-con bowling fanatic, and a criminal porn kingpin. But the film's most bizarro creation is its protagonist, who finds himself inexplicably at odds with these crackpot forces of evil. His name is Jeff Lebowski, but you can call him The Dude.

As brought to exquisitely wackadoodle life by Jeff Bridges, The Dude is a man who takes life as it slowly comes to him. He grocery shops in his robe, bowls with his buddies (belligerent Vietnam Vet Walter Sobchak and human doormat Donny Kerabatsos), and subsists largely on marijuana and White Russians. He is a creature of profound leisure who lives by a simple mantra: "The Dude abides."

He is also a very real person.

Fans of "The Big Lebowski" know all about Jeff "The Dude" Dowd. He is a writer, a film producer, and an all-around righteous man of the people. The Coen brothers met Dowd at the 1984 Sundance Film Festival, where their debut movie, "Blood Simple," helped kick off the 1980s independent film revolution. Dowd is credited with having helped Robert Redford build up the Sundance Institute and the festival, which brought him into contact with loads of influential directors, critics, and studio folk.

One of Dowd's best friends on the festival circuit was Roger Ebert, who aptly described the producer as "tall, large, shaggy and aboil with enthusiasm." If you've ever been to Sundance, there is a very good chance you've crossed paths with him at the Yarrow Hotel. If he looked at your badge and saw that you wrote for an outlet that could help whatever film he was representing, there's an equally good chance that he pitched you — and you quickly learned that "no" isn't in his vocabulary. 

Variety critic John Anderson discovered this in 2009 when he informed Dowd that he'd be filing a negative review for "Dirt! The Movie." Knowing a poor write-up in a major trade publication would hamper the film's chances for distribution, Dowd kicked his pitch into overdrive. Anderson finally lost his cool and punched Dowd twice in the face. The police were called, but Dowd refused to press charges. He knew he'd pushed too hard, so he licked his (very minor) wounds and abided.

Dowd's sphere of influence stretches well beyond the film industry. While attending the University of Washington in the late 1960s, Dowd joined the Seattle Liberation Front, a radical anti-war outfit that organized a massive demonstration outside a local courthouse in support of the Chicago Seven. Dowd and six of his cohorts became known as the "Seattle Seven" when, in the wake of the protest, they were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot.

Over 50 years later, Dowd is still fighting on behalf of the powerless by championing climate change initiatives, economic justice, and anti-war efforts. He was a vociferous supporter of Bernie Sanders during the 2016 and '20 presidential primaries and works in tandem with the child mentoring organization PeaceJam.

If this all sounds like too much work for Bridges' variation on The Dude, Ebert explained their spiritual connection by noting that they are each "creatures of the moment. Both dudes depend on improvisation and inspiration." Happily, Dowd is an eager participant in the annual Lebowski Fest, where attendees shower him with affection and ask him to bowl a frame or toast a White Russian.

For Dowd, it's not just a celebration of his long, strange trip of a life, but an opportunity to pitch his causes to a receptive audience. This Dude abides, but he's a bit more purposeful. He's got an ethos.