During the scripted intro of 1998s The Big Lebowski, cowboy narrator Sam Elliott proclaims with a slow drawl: He is the Dude. His rumpled look and relaxed manner suggest a man in whom casualness runs deep.
The prophetic line doesnt just speak volumes about the films lead character. It also describes the real-life Dude, Jeff Dowd, who inspired Joel and Ethan Coen to create a cinematic icon.
The film in turn spawned the pop phenomenon known as the Lebowski Fest, a nationwide circuit of fan events that arrives for the first time in Tampa Feb. 25-26.
Dowd, 61, like Bridges lead character in the beloved psychedelic comedy/Raymond Chandler knock-off, is himself an amiable, philosophical and laid-back fella nicknamed The Dude. A Hollywood producer/ promoter and champion of independent films, as well as a onetime environmental and antiwar activist, Dowd helped get both the Seattle Film Festival and Sundance off the ground. It was Robert Redford who indirectly brought him and the Coens together.