Longtime resident, Dolphin Award winner and Malibu Stage Company co-founder Jacqueline Bridgeman passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
Details of Bridgeman’s death were not known as The Malibu Times went to press.
She, along with accomplished playwright Charles Marowitz, founded the Malibu Stage Company in 1990. Bridgeman served as the Stage Company’s president emeritus until leaving in 2008 after 18 years at the helm.
Bridgeman was instrumental in funding and helping the Stage Company — later the Malibu Playhouse — obtain its current 99-seat theater in the Point Dume area. She was a benefactor to Malibu Urgent Care and “very generous” with her Hazard Ranch home, allowing many community members to gather there in times of need.
“She was very civic-minded,” said Anne Payne, a neighbor and friend of Bridgeman’s.
Bridgeman was also an accomplished author, helping pen a book with her late husband, Bill Bridgeman. Bill was an experimental test pilot who recounted his experiences in the 1955 book Jackie co-authored: “The Lonely Sky.” He died tragically during a test flight to Catalina Island in 1968. His body was never recovered from the Pacific Ocean.
Born Jacqueline Hazard, her father was Jack Hazard, founder of the Systems Parking Empire and owner of Malibu’s famous Hazard Ranch.
The local theater community will remember her fondly.
“She was an ardent theater lover and benefactor and single-handedly raised thousands of dollars to help establish the company at the current facilities in 2002,” Malibu Playhouse Chair Andi Howard said. “…The current board members are forever grateful to Jacqueline Bridgeman for the legacy of theater to our beautiful town of Malibu. Without her tenacious will and unstoppable energy, Malibu would not be the rich cultural community it is.”
Bridgeman was preceded in death by her husband, Bill, and her son, Christopher. She is survived by daughter-in-law Luci Marie and grandson Alex.