Tall, thin, wiry Sam Elliott is the classic picture of the American cowboy. The only difference would be that he looked old. Elliott began his acting career on the stage and his film debut was in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. His appearance was little more than a shadow on the wall, but he made enough of an impression on co-star Katharine Ross that they were soon married. 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, The Shadow Riders and The Yellow Rose, among others. He would also work in non-westerns, usually as a tough guy, as in Lifeguard and Road House. In the 1990s after getting through two questionable films, Elliott was back on the western trail, playing everyone from Brig. Gen. John Buford in the film Gettysburg to Wild Bill Hickok in the made-for-TV movie Buffalo Girls. In 1991 he wrote the screenplay and co-starred with his wife in the made-for-TV western Conagher.
Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1976" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 28. [1976] His bare-buns scene in The Legacy earned the highest rating (3 stars) from "The Bare Facts" -- a printed guide to nudity in movies. 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. One daughter, Cleo. Illness forced him to drop out of the 1982 TV-movie, The Ambush Murders. He was replaced by James Brolin. Shares a birthday with his "The Hulk" co-star Eric Bana. He is an alumnus of Clark College located in Vancouver, Washington.