Sam Elliott was born on August 9, 1944, in Sacramento, California. Although he moved to Oregon with his family when he was a teenager, Sam returned to California to study acting in Los Angeles after graduation.

After working on stage for a number of years, Sam won a small role as a card player in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The 1969 Western starred Paul Newman, Katharine Ross, and Robert Redford. Directors liked not only Sam’s good looks, but also his tough guy appeal. This first tiny role spawned a successful film career that continues to this day.

Throughout the years, Sam has often been cast, in large part, for his sex appeal. It appears Elliott was quite comfortable playing the “beefcake” character. Several of his early movies, including The Games, Frogs, and Molly and Lawless John featured a shirtless Sam delivering his lines. Many of the scenes in Lifeguard, released in 1975, show Sam in only a pair of swim trunks. In 1978, he bore it all for a scene in The Legacy.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Sam continued to secure roles in a variety of films. Some of his more well-known appearances during this era include his co-starring role in Mask, starring Cher, Laura Dern, Estelle Getty, and Eric Stoltz; Fatal Beauty, in which he shared the spotlight with Whoopi Goldberg; and the historically-based Gettysburg, with Martin Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Jeff Daniels. In 1993, Sam revisited him signature tough guy persona in the Western Tombstone, with Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, and Bill Paxton.

For many actors, getting older often means the end of their acting career. Elliott, however, who is now in his sixties, does not show any signs of slowing down. He welcomed the new millennium with a co-starring role in the political thriller The Contender, acting alongside Gary Oldman, Joan Allen, and Jeff Bridges. The 2000s have been a great time in Sam’s career. He has worked with Mel Gibson in the war drama We Were Soldiers, made appearances in The Hulk and The Alibi, and shared the screen with Aaron Eckhart, Adam Brody, and Katie Holmes in the 2006 flick Thank You For Smoking.

Sam’s recently released or upcoming films include The Ghost Rider, with Nicholas Cage and Eva Mendes, and he will be doing voice work for the upcoming animated release Madagascar 2.

Over the years, Sam has appeared in several television series, including Mission: Impossible, Felony Squad, and Gunsmoke. He worked as a commercial narrator, using his gruff voice to promote products for Chevy and IBM. Elliott replaced Robert Mitchum as the voice of the American Beef Council.

Despite his sex appeal, and the many women who admire him, Elliott is far from a ladies’ man. He met his wife Katharine Ross during his first film appearance. The couple married and had their daughter Cleo in the same year. The trio have been a happy family since 1984.

YUDDY