Below is a compiled list of the most interesting facts about Sam Elliott. Check it out!
Tall, thin, wiry Sam Elliott is the classic picture of the American cowboy. Elliott began his acting career on the stage and his film debut was in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Although his future wife, Katharine Ross co-starred in the film, the two did not meet until they filmed The Legacy (1978) Together. Over the years there would be few opportunities to act in feature westerns, but it would be television that gave him that opportunity, in The Sacketts (1979), The Shadow Riders (1982) and The Yellow Rose (1983), among others. He would also work in non-westerns, usually as a tough guy, as in Lifeguard (1976) and Road House (1989). In the 1990s, Elliott was back on the western trail, playing everyone from Brig. Gen. John Buford in the film Gettysburg (1993) to Wild Bill Hickok in the made-for-TV movie Buffalo Girls (1995). In 1991 he wrote the screenplay and co-starred with his wife in the made-for-TV western Conagher (1991).
Interesting Facts about Sam Elliott
- Though often described as making his film debut in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Elliott actually appeared while a college student as an extra in The Way West (1967), filmed near his hometown in Oregon.
- He is an alumnus of Clark College in Vancouver, Washington.
- Used his own Winchester 1894 rifle in Thank You for Smoking (2005).
- His great-great-great-uncle, Edward F. Mitchusson, was a doctor who died at the Alamo in 1836. Edward was the brother of Sam’s paternal great-great-grandfather, Jacob Robert Mitchusson.
- To date, he is the first (and only) actor to be nominated for an Emmy for guest-performing on Robot Chicken (2005).
- For his role on Tombstone (1993), he worked with renowned Hollywood gun coach Thell Reed, who has also trained such actors as Val Kilmer, Kurt Russell, Bill Paxton, Girard Swan, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Russell Crowe.
- In his book “Shirtless! The Hollywood Male Physique,” Donald Reuter refers to Elliott as a “super bod” and gives him a full-page color photograph from his 1976 movie Lifeguard (1976).
- Fifth husband of Katharine Ross.
- After portraying General Ross in Hulk (2003) he wanted to reprise the role in the reboot The Incredible Hulk (2008), but the part was given to William Hurt.
- Shares birthday with “Smokey Bear,” and Sam Elliott has been the voice of “Smokey Bear” since 2008.
- Had not read any of the ‘His Dark Materials’ books before he was asked to take the role as Lee Scoresby in The Golden Compass (2007). He chose to first read the books by Philip Pullman, then read the film’s script.
- Inducted into the International Mustache Hall of Fame in 2015 (inaugural class) in the category Film & Television.
Personal Quotes by Sam Elliott
I understand lost love, and I think that can destroy a man more than anything if it was a deep love that is lost somehow.
Sam Elliott
Making movies is never going to get better than working on a Coen brothers project.
Sam Elliott
I’m not a hunter, but I’ve been around guns all my life. I’m a great shot.
Sam Elliott
My voice gets recognized before anything else. It’s always gotten attention. In choruses at church and school, I started as a tenor, moved to a baritone and finally became a bass. I knew then that my voice would be my instrument. Now if I want to hide, I just keep my mouth shut.
Sam Elliott
I think I might have been a more interesting actor, had more of a career earlier on, if I had more formal preparation. When I see something ten years later that I was in I think, ‘Boy, would I love to do that over.’
Sam Elliott
