Lebowski, Jeffrey ("The Big") (The Big Lebowski). Jeffrey “The Big” Lebowski is a character played by David Huddleston in the Coen brothers’ 1998 film The Big Lebowski. “The Big” Lebowski shares the same name as the movie’s protagonist, Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski - this similarity serves as the catalyst for much of the movie’s narrative.

Jeffrey “The Big” Lebowski is a millionaire and a successful, stern business man who was handicapped after serving in Korea. He is the father of another one of the main characters, Maude (played by Julianne Moore), and husband to a nymphomaniacal trophy wife named Bunny (played by Tara Reid). When Bunny is thought to be kidnapped “The Big” Lebowski requests the help of “The Dude” to act as courier for the ransom in hopes that he might be able to identify Bunny’s kidnappers. After several conversations with Maude, “The Dude” finds that “The Big” Lebowski actually has no money of his own and that he never intended to pay the kidnappers, instead embezzling the funds from his family-run charitable organization for orphans. When “The Big” Lebowski is confronted by “The Dude” and his friend Walter Sobchak, Walter accuses “The Big” Lebowski of not being a genuine paraplegic and throws him to the floor, thus discovering the genuineness of “The Big” Lebowski’s handicap.—Jamison Puckett