♪ >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." >> i'm tom hanson, and we've got a lot more to share with you this christmas eve morning, including jeff bridges. over the past 60 years, the oscar winner has gone from child actor to leading man to laid back counterculture icon, and along the way he's gained a few skills, painting, music, and photography. bridges has gathered some of his favorite photos in a new book. it features behind-the-scenes shots from some of his most memorable films. anthony mason spent some time with the actor, both in front of the lens and behind it. >> 28 millimeter panning lens -- >> reporter: jeff bridges has

always been passionate about taking pictures. where did your love of photography come from? >> i guess borrowing would be a kinder word rather than stealing my father's nikon, setting up a little darkroom in my bathroom, putting the tin foil on the windows and being in there with that red light with my tunes going on. the whole concept of time goes out the window. just the idea of capturing time like that. >> reporter: but when he started acting, he left the darkroom behind, until 1976 when he starred in "king kong." >> my character, jack prescott, had a camera. i said well, i'm going load that thing and take pictures. >> reporter: that started a tradition of taking pictures on his film sets. photographs from king kong, the fabulous baker boy, and the big lebowski were included in a first volume of his pictures. now bridges has released

pictures volume 2, including photos from the sets of true grit, crazy heart and see biscuit. what happened here? >> i gave her a bloody nose. seabiscuit is winning, and i cracked her in the nose. oh, god. and i said oh, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, can i take your picture? >> reporter: he also turned his camera on the inflatable crowd in the racing scene. >> gosh, you got all those extras up there, and you're all dressed. it's amazing. and then i got closer and i saw it was these guys. see? here it is. >> reporter: bridges, who we met at the annenberg space for photography in los angeles says the tool of his trade now is a 35 millimeter wide lux panning camera, which allows him to

shoot the dual image comedy-tragedy shots of his acting friends. >> not me. you're sad. >> reporter: he gave me a demonstration. >> yeah, sad, look right over here. there you go, sad! nice. >> reporter: bridges was encouraged to go into acting by his father, lloyd bridges, who starred in the '50s and '60s tv show "sea hunt" in which young jeff made several appearances. >> yeah, but i've never been here before. it all looks the same. >> reporter: you were on the fence at one point about that. >> oh, yeah, i sure was. for quite a while. i had maybe ten movies under my belt before i said you know what? this is for me. i'm a product of nepotism. i don't think i would have got into the movies without my dad saying come on, come on. >> reporter: yeah, but you have to be good to stay in the movie. >> well, that's true. but in the beginning i said i don't want to get the part just because of who my dad is.

>> reporter: that changed, bridges says, after he initially passed on a part in the 1973 film "the iceman cometh" and a director he just worked with called him. >> hello, larry. >> a very low voice and you turned down john frankenheimer? "iceman cometh"? i'm bushed monty. bushed? you're an ass. and he hung up on me. >> you think i made up a phony, don't you. >> reporter: bridges took the part and eventually found ways to include his love of music and photography in his acting career. but his favorite photograph is not his own. >> oh, yeah, my prized possession you're talking about. >> reporter: yeah. in his wallet he keeps a snapshot of the moment he and his wife susan meat method in 1975. >> so i have a photograph of the first words that my wife and i

shared, me asking her out and her saying no, and here's that moment, you know. look at that. isn't that wild? >> reporter: he was smitten, he says by her beauty and her pair of black eyes from a recent car accident. >> here is a close-up of her. >> reporter: with the black eye. >> isn't she something? >> reporter: susan appears in the book visiting the set of "true grit." so does bridges' stand-in, who he has been working with even longer. >> there is my old buddy lloyd. we've done nearly 70 films together. well met "on the last picture show". >> reporter: how unusual is it to have a stand-in through your whole career? >> completely unusual. got to hold the record i would think. >> reporter: what satisfaction do you get out of taking pictures? >> opening that proof sheet and seeing what you took, you know. i just love that surprise. you always have high expectations when you're making a movie, you know.

and every once in a while, it exceeds those expectation, and you go oh, yeah, man. and that happens in the photographs too every once in a while. you've gotten out of the way appropriately and the thing is just captured, you know. it feels great. >> anthony mason reporting. and fun fact. bridges says he didn't even know that photo of him meeting his future wife susan even existed. about a decade after they were married, a makeup artist found it in some old files and mailed it to him. now bridges says he carries it with him everywhere he goes. well there you visit. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.

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shapes and sizes, and one woman has a whole house full of them. nikki battiste paid her a visit. ♪ >> reporter: the birth of jesus. it's what christmas is all about, though with all the frantic shopping and stock stuffing, it's often overlooked. that's definitely not the case for michelle devitt. how many nativity scenes are throughout your house? >> well, my collection is almost 800. >> reporter: 800? >> that includes some of the jewelry that i'm wearing on my vest and the earrings. >> reporter: on your back. >> and if you want to see the back, there is a collection of pins. >> reporter: and your ears. >> and the ears. it was kind of a secret. nobody reallyized how many i had. >> reporter: her ohio home is a makeshift museum of natives from around the world. >> it's a love. it's just a love and a passion that i have. my faith is important to me, and the birth of jesus has always been a part of my life. >> reporter: the scenes all

follow the same basic story line, but what do we really know about jesus' birthday. true or false, jesus was born on december 25? >> we don't know, but probably false. >> reporter: we asked professor eric peretto for a history lesson. >> another myth is we have the wisemen and the sheep and the lambs showing up together. we have two different stories about jesus' birth, one the gospel of matthew, one in the gospel of luke. one has magi. some has shepherds. sometimes we forget that we're dealing with two stories. many myths, many versions, many stories. and i think that's part of the beauty of the nativity scene is that it contains multitudes in it. >> reporter: whatever the actual facts are, the person we have to thank for the nativity scene as we know it is st. francis of assisi, who created the very first nativity in italy in 1223 to inspire the local

townspeople. >> not too long after, that especially when we get into the renaissance in europe, noble family, wealthy families would start to commission the nativity sets to put on display in their homes. and it almost became a status symbol or a luxury good, that they would try to have the nicest nativity set in town. >> reporter: each creation usually includes joseph, mary, and baby jesus. the rest is up to the artist, which can mean, well, pretty much anything. >> this is our so-called hipster nativity. >> reporter: hipster nativity? >> hipster nativity. >> reporter: the director of the library at the university of dayton. >> we have gluten-free feed. mary's bra strap is hanging out. although i have to say one interpretation that of is that she is a nursing mother. >> reporter: as she drinks coffee. >> that's a fair point. maybe it's decaf. >> reporter: do you like the hipster scene? >> to be honest, it's not my

favorite nativity in the collection. ♪ the first noel". >> reporter: since 1995, the library has presented an annual ativity exhibit. >> this is one of my favorite nativity sets in the collection. it is from kenya, and it is made out of recycled soda cans. >> reporter: i see a cheese grater. >> you're absolutely right. the cheese grater is the stable. jesus is a strawberry huller. i'll be honest. i wasn't super familiar with that implement either, but that's what it is. >> reporter: very imaginative. >> very imaginative. >> reporter: regardless of the materials, it's the message that matters. >> it has a certain holiness to it because of the story that it's telling, but it's not something that only a priest can touch. it's something that anybody is allowed to have. >> reporter: perhaps there is no better way to experience the mystery and miracle of the nativity -- ♪ hark the herald angels sing >> reporter: -- than to actually

be a part of it. >> i'm nikki. >> i'm tammy. >> reporter: can i call you m e mary? >> yes. >> reporter: with over 200 volunteer, elaborate wardrobes and sets, this living nativity in mount laurel brings the christmas spirit to life. >> it's exactly as the angels told us. >> a baby lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling cloths. >> reporter: tammy brown has been playing mary for more than a decade because she says it honors her faith. as for steven montgomery, aka joseph -- >> last night i was a shepherd, and today i found out they had plenty of shepherds and this was open. >> reporter: so you said you'd be joseph. >> i did not know when i woke up this morning that i'd be joseph. >> reporter: and as they brave the freezing weather hour after hour, we thought it was only fair to give them the last word. >> the meaning of christmas in general can get lost. it's the reminder of what

christmas is really about. >> reporter: not christmas trees and presen

if you're in southern california over the holidays, you may want to stop into a little town named solvang. they've got a big christmas display, including santa literally lighting the night sky. and he doesn't do it in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer. jamie yuccas has the story. ♪ santa is coming to town >> reporter: the night sky lit up with the joy and humor of the holidays. >> would you look at that! >> reporter: in a town that honors that feeling all year long. some call it a christmas market, but to the danish, it's yule fest, and in solvang, a tiny town of about 6,000, they've kept their traditions alive sin danish immigrants first settled here in 1911.

even today, great attention is paid to customs and festivals. solvang mayor ryan touissant. when people want to do over the top christmas? >> this is the place to be, yeah. >> reporter: the sights bring visitors from all over the world. one of the most satisfying crowd pleasers, the traditional christmas danish. >> oh, my gosh, this is like the best donut ever. >> reporter: this year, the city decided to take the holiday to new heights with a fleet of 100 synchronized drones. remarkably, all piloted by one operator and a laptop. >> it looks like a mess if you have never seen it before, but it's pretty organized chaos, and we know where each drone should be during the whole procedure. >> reporter: kyle derieux's drones is behind this aerial achievement. his quad continue or thes shape some 300 tall and can handle winds up to 25 miles per hour. he says it's rare that a drone

goes rogue. is it cool to be a nerd? >> i think so, yeah. it's the coolest. ♪ i'mreaming >> reporter: while solvang's holiday spectacle has always attracted lots of fans, it's that melding of technology and tradition that's wowing new crowds. >> i thought it was awesome! >> it issy aye mazing. i liked all of it. >> i felt they were 3-d. they were coming towards us. >> i didn't expect that at all. >> reporter: event coordinator scott shoemake chose the music and drubbed the show aurora. >> christmas is about magic. inside all of us is those memories of growing up and those memories of family. my goal was to try and pull those out. >> reporter: and inspiring the spirit of the season may be the best present yet. would you want to see it again? >> yes! >> reporter: for cbs this morning, jamie yuccas, solvang, california. ♪

>> pretty amazing. and that's the " ernight news for this christmas eve. it's tuesday, december 24th, 2019. this is the "cbs morning news." holiday getaway. americans hit the highways and skyways to celebrate with loved ones. will the weather be naughty or nice? boeing's ceo is fired. dennis muilenberg is out after a year of disasters, delays, and setbacks. and christmas chaos. a prize giveaway at a mall goes horribly wrong. captioning funded by cbs good morning from the studio 57 newsroom at cbs news headquarters here in new york. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. we begin with thho