Bridges worked as a commentator on the television series TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest... from 2008 to 2013.

[2] Bridges appeared on The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, "The Love Boat" Season 2 Episode 5, and the landmark miniseries Roots.

It was playing Willis Jackson on the NBC/ABC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes that made him a household name, along with those of fellow co-stars Conrad Bain, Charlotte Rae, Dana Plato, and Gary Coleman.

[3] Bridges appeared in the 2002 special Celebrity Boxing with friend Vanilla Ice, whom he defeated.

After reaching the finals along with Butterbean and Dustin Diamond, Bridges was defeated by Dennis Rodman.

[7] In 1998, Bridges and his brother James saved the life of Stella Kline, a 51-year-old paraplegic woman who nearly drowned when her wheelchair rolled into a lake while she was fishing.

"[8] In a 2010 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Bridges said that he was sexually abused at age 11 by a publicist who was also a family friend.

[11][16] Bridges wrote a book, Killing Willis: From Diff'rent Strokes to the Mean Streets to the Life I Always Wanted (2008), discussing his childhood sexual abuse, drug addiction, criminal charges and efforts to establish a public identity independent of the Willis character.

[17] He appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 28, 2010 to discuss the troubled past that he had chronicled in his memoir.