Besides for his movies and the iconic roles he has landed, the fearless cowboy, Sam Elliott, is also known for his long-lasting marriage, which is something that we rarely see in Hollywood.
Elliott and actress Katharine Ross have been married for nearly four decades and their love is one of the strongest there is.
The actor turned 79 on August 9, and on the occasion of his birthday, let’s take a look at his and his wife’s fairy-tale love story.
At the start of his acting career, Elliott only landed minor roles, often as an extra, such as in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
It was during the filming of this movie that he and future wife Katharine Ross first met. At the time, however, he felt like he had no chance with her. “I didn’t dare try to talk to her then. She was the leading lady. I was a shadow on the wall, a glorified extra in a bar scene,” he told AARP in 2015.
The couple met again on the set of The Legacy in 1987 and fell for one another. At the time, Ross was still married to her fourth husband, but divorced him and married Elliott in 1984. They welcomed a daughter that same year.
In 1985, while the couple was on their honeymoon in Hawaii, Elliott’s agent called him for he role in Mask. Ross called the agent back and told him she would make sure she has her husband back for the audition, according to The New York Times.
Tying the knot for the fifth time, Ross was unsure if this marriage would be a successful one, but today, after 39 long years, she can proudly say that she made the right decision when she told Elliott ‘I do.’
Speaking of the secret to a long-lasting marriage, the Molly and Lawless John star says, “Common sensibility, but we also work at being together. You work past the s–t; you don’t walk away from it. That’s how relationships last,” as per AARP Magazine.
“Through mutual love and a mutual respect,” Elliott says, adding that Ross is “a pretty stable girl who has been around the block.”
At the end of the day, determination is key: “There are peaks and valleys like everything else, but you have to push on.”
The couple divide their time between their homes in California and Oregon, and Elliott says he would like to move them out to “La La Land” in the future.
What these two lovebirds always dreamed of was sharing the screen together, as a husband and wife, which they eventually did twice, in the films The Hero and Love Letters.
Happy Birthday, Sam Elliott, and many more to come.
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