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Sam Elliott (born Samuel Pack Elliott on August 9, 1944 in Sacramento, California) is an American film and television actor, usually recognised by his tall, thin, rough-hewn physique, a thick handlebar moustache and a gruff speaking voice.

Film

He began his career as a stage actor, but his appearance naturally suited cowboy and adventurer movie roles. His first movie appearance was in 1969 as a card player in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where he met his future wife, actress Katharine Ross. They married in 1984, the same year their daughter, Cleo, was born.

Some of his more well-known film roles include: Rick Peterson in Lifeguard (1976); Gar, in Mask (1985); the bouncer Wade Garrett, in the cult film Road House (1989); Virgil Earp, in Tombstone (1993); and General John Buford, in Gettysburg (1993). He also had a small but memorable role as "The Stranger" in the Coen Brothers' film The Big Lebowski (1998), in which he narrated the movie. (1999) You Know My Name, as Oklahoma Lawman Bill Tilghman. His appearance made him an obvious casting choice as General Thaddeous "Thunderbolt" Ross in Hulk (2003), and won acclaim playing Sergeant-Major Basil L. Plumley in Randall Wallace's Vietnam War film We Were Soldiers (2002), playing opposite Mel Gibson.

TV

During 1970-71, Elliott starred as Doug Robert in the hit TV series Mission Impossible and later played "sexy" killers in the miniseries Murder in Texas (1981) and A Death in California (1986). He has made guest appearances on shows such as Felony Squad, Gunsmoke, Lancer and Hawaii Five-O and has featured in many TV movies, for instance as Wild Bill Hickock in Buffalo Girls (1995).

In 2006, he starred in the TNT TV movie Avenger.

Trivia

• Elliott's voice can be heard in as the voiceover narration for commercials from time to time. In the past he has lent his voice to campaigns for Chevy, IBM, Union Pacific, and, most notably, took over as the voice of the American Beef Council after Robert Mitchum.

• The young Sam Elliott was often cast for his "beefcake" appeal. In his early movies -- The Games, Frogs, Molly and Lawless John -- he performed a number of scenes without his shirt. Then, in Lifeguard, he appeared in much of the movie wearing nothing more than a pair of swim trunks. Next, in The Legacy, he shed all his clothes for a gratuitous nude scene. As late as 1996, when he was in his early 50s, Elliott still managed to strip to the waist for a scene in Dog Watch.

• He is the only actor to perform in two Marvel movies - he played General "Thunderbolt" Ross in Hulk and he will play the Caretaker in Nicolas Cage's title role of Ghost Rider - if you arbitrarily choose to ignore all the actors who reprised their roles in the X-men and Spider-Man series, Jennifer Garner in Elektra and Daredevil and the countless Stan Lee cameos.

Selected filmography

External links

• A Tribute to Sam Elliott (fan site)
• Where have you gone, Grizzly Adams?, an LA Times article on the Sam Elliott cowboy stereotype.

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