Raise Your White Russians, ‘The Big Lebowski’ David Huddleston Has Died

He was best known for his pivotal role in the Coen brothers’ 1998 classic, in which he was torn between porn producers, nymphomaniacs and nihilists – while still somehow coming across as the baddie. 

You could even say he really tied the whole thing together.

Outside of his role in what is objectively one of the greatest films of all time, Huddleston enjoyed a long career as an esteemed character actor. On stage, he performed as Benjamin Franklin in two productions of 1776, a role he characterised as his “crowning achievement.”

His CV also included roles in films like The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Santa Claus: The Movie. 

It was there he met wife Sarah Koeppe, who served as the casting agent. She told The Los Angeles Times that Huddleston “loved entertaining and would rather sit down and talk with someone over dinner.”

She revealed he may have spent a good portion of his life doing just that; Koeppe said Turkish locals “recognized him as the Big Lebowski even though they couldn’t speak any English. They asked us to stay and told us, “we will cook for you.””

RIP. 

Source: Variety / The L.A Times.