After More Than 50 Years In Hollywood, Here’s The Extraordinary True Life Story Of Sam Elliott

[Music] after more than 50 years in Hollywood here's the extraordinary true life story of Sam Elliot Sam Elliot has worked steadily in Hollywood for more than five decades as well as appearing in some iconic movies over the years he is also well known for his distinctively deep voice and it turns out that the story of his life as just as fascinating as his many on-screen personas Elliot was born in Sacramento California in August 1944 as a teenager his family moved to Portland Oregon where he attended high school then Elliot studied at Clark College in the Washington City of Vancouver and it was there that he developed his talent for acting after starring in a college production of the musical Guys and Dolls Elliot received rave reviews even the local Colombian newspaper said that he had the potential for a promising future as an actor the star then decided to relocate to Los Angeles there Elliott attended California State University he soon began his acting career with an appearance in the television show judge for the defense and his first feature film credit was in the classic western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid the 1969 drama also starred Paul Newman and Robert Redford although he may not have known it then Elliot's first film role would set the stage for much of his working life he often portrays cowboys on screen but Elliott has also proven himself as a versatile performer and successful character actor in fact Elliott admitted that he knew he wanted to perform even before he tried it out for the first time I went to a local theatre called the Sequoia theater he told NPR radio program fresh air in 2017 and I just was captivated by going into a dark theatre and watching those lights jump around up on the screen Elliott continued I just knew early on that as preposterous as it might seem at that point in time to any number of people that it seemed a possibility to me and I pretty much had tunnel vision most of my life in that pursue and after his performance in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid the star success continued in 1970-71 Elliott played Doug Robert in the television series Mission Impossible and a few years after that he landed the leading role in once an eagle as Sam Damon the star has also teamed up with Tom Selleck on multiple occasions both Elliott and Sylla car famous for their impressive moustaches and the two men first appeared together in an episode of Lancer in what was cilix earliest acting gig they went on to star together in television westerns the seconds in 1979 and the shadow riders in 1982 Elliott was landing regular work as an actor in the early days of his career but it was in 1985 that he got his big break with a supporting part in masks the movie told the true story of Roy L rocky Dennis a boy with a rare bone disorder and also starred cher and Eric Stoltz in the years following mask Elliott had memorable performances in movies such as Roadhouse and tombstone the two films are some of the stars best known work but he is also famous for his appearance in the iconic Coen brothers feature The Big Lebowski The Big Lebowski starred Jeff Daniels as a character referred to as the dude and it's a role Eliot will never forget the words are just so brilliant and Jeff is just brilliant in it he told fresh air Elliott portrayed the stranger who is dressed in full cowboy gear during his interaction with the dude and he also introduces the story as a narrator the famous movie came out in 1998 and even now Elliott can still remember the day he read the script at that time in my career I felt like I was never going to get out of the box that I was in this Western thing like I was never going to be perceived as an actor that could do anything but ride a horse or shoot a gun Elliott said I was really tickled to get the script and I was so excited to get back to the hotel room and read it Elliott continued as I opened up and read you know a couple of pages in and it's talking about this voice over and it said literally on the page the voice-over sounded not on like Sam Elliott and then later on when he appears in the bowling alley here's this guy dressed like a drugstore cowboy looking not unlike Sam Elliott after reading the script Elliott realized that the Coen brothers had envisioned him in the role when they wrote it and it made him see that he should be grateful for his place in Hollywood even if he was often being typecast as a cowboy character so instead of avoiding that kind of a role Elliott decided to embrace it from then on I just knew that I should just be thankful for that way that I'm perceived by others in the game as the Western character Elliott told the fresh air show had that not happened I probably wouldn't have had the career that I've had and maybe not one at all Elliott has had further success on television since then with shows such as justified and Buffalo girls and since 2016 he has been starring on Netflix series the ranch in the sitcom which also stars Ashton Kutcher Elisha Cuthbert and Debra Winger Elliott plays a veteran of the Vietnam War during his long Hollywood career Elliott has been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Awards he even won a Critics Choice Television Award for justified and his famously deep voice has landed him voice over parts for commercials including several for Ram trucks and Coors beer Elliott is also the voice of Smokey Bear for the United States Forest Service and he admitted that his voice got deeper as time went on it came with age he told fresh air it just kept going down the older I got I can't imagine it's going to go much further now 50 years since his first film role Elliott is making waves once again in Hollywood for his latest project the actor portrayed the brother of Bradley Cooper's character in the 2018 version of a star as born the movie also stars Lady gaga and follows an aspiring singer whose career takes off as her country star boyfriend falls deeper into addiction Cooper additionally directed the film and helped to write the script an Elliott revealed in an October 2018 interview with Esquire that he knew right away that it would be a hit I don't know that I've ever been on a set where I felt more positive that something incredible was happening the star said Elliott continued it's a timeless story in terms of the entertainment world everybody's wanting to get there in this business and some are willing to pay a dear price for it the movie was praised by critics and earned five Golden Globe nominations while Elliott did not receive a nod for Best Supporting Actor he was applauded for his performance and is expected to be nominated at further ceremonies in the 2019 Awards season a star as born has so far earned nearly 370 million dollars at the box office worldwide and Elliott is not surprised I think there's great respite from the storm so to speak when you go into a movie theater the star said because of his famous drawl and distinguishing looks perhaps it's no surprise that Elliott has often cast to play a cowboy but it turns out that his background as another reason he has put into those roles while his mother taught physical training his father was employed by the Department of the Interior Elliott explained that his upbringing has helped him to master the nuances of those characters I was outdoors a lot in my lifetime he told fresh air and I was with my dad and his peers who were all men's men and outdoorsmen indeed Elliott's experiences with his father and his friends left a lasting impact on him all had incredible work ethics and were all good men he revealed and they were really the ones I think that I learned from what kind of a man I wanted to be when I grew up when Elliott was 18 years old his dad died at the age of 54 but he never forgot the lessons he learned from his father I spent so much time with him when I was younger that plenty of it rubbed off he said I didn't get to know him nearly as well as I would love to have but I got enough of him that my sister tells me all the time you're just like Daddy Elliott's family came from Texas and his roots go back to a relative who was involved in the 1836 Battle of the Alamo and he explained to Esquire that his family's background has also influenced him my western heritage runs deep he said I always thought there was a sensibility that came from that Western character maybe its mythic but I always felt that there was something real there it had to do with how you dealt with people Elliott added it had to do with how you treated a woman and how you thought about people on a bigger level than just what you can get out of them in some ways Elliott fulfills the cowboy persona so often attributed to him in his everyday life the actor really does live on a ranch with his wife Katharine Ross the actress has best known for portraying Elaine Robertson in the Graduate which earned her an Academy Award nomination Ross also starred in The Stepford Wives and voyage of the Damned and she appeared in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but did not have any on-camera moments with Elliott instead it was when they co-starred in the legacy in 1978 that Elliott and Ross started a relationship Elliott and Ross got married in 1984 and in September that year their daughter Cleo was born indeed she too is following her parents into the spotlight and works as a musician when Elliott and Ross tied the knot the latter had been divorced four times but the couple's marriage has stood the test of time and while he recognizes that they are in the minority when it comes to Hollywood romances he revealed the secret to their long-lasting relationship during his interview on NPR's fresh air show I think really what it boils down to as we love each other and we work at it Elliott told the show and I think more importantly than anything it takes wanting to be married the things that I wanted in my life were to have a movie career and to be married to have a family Elliott added that he's grateful to have both a happy marriage and a fruitful livelihood it's an embarrassment of riches that I've got both he said an unlikely Haden who couldn't balance those two things and made such a mess of it Ross and I managed to make it work and Cleo's right along the way with us and it's just the best Lee Hayden as the character that Elliott portrayed in 2017 s the hero the movie is about an older Western star whose heyday has behind him raus stars alongside him and while Elliott can relate to some aspects of the movie he and his alter-ego don't have much in common you know I understand Lee Hayden Elliott told fresh air it was close to me in where I've been and gone with my career but he added he's in a much darker world than I dwell in Elliott continued I'm divorced in the film from my wife played by my real wife who I've been married to for 33 years and my daughter Cleo is the love of my life and I'm on the outs with my daughter in the film next up the star is voicing the part of President Abraham Lincoln's bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon in the Gettysburg Address and will be returning for the fourth season of the ranch with Elliott's career showing no signs of slowing down the star has cemented his spot in Hollywood he added that his secret to success is not losing sight of who he has no matter what kind of offers appear my security comes from the fact that I've never done a job for money he told the Guardian in 2017 it's not about working for money it's just something I've wanted to do since I was a little kid share and subscribe star news 24 24 thank you for watching video [Music]

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Keywords: News, star, star news, entertainment news, Life, Breaking News, STAR NEWS TODAY, singer, musician, family, home, actress, world star, comedian, film, Sam Elliott, Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born, Ross

Id: fgy3jip-vFE

Length: 12min 16sec (736 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 14 2018