One look at that thick, gray mustache and you'd recognize Sam Elliott anywhere.
Add in his voice, which has voiced everything from Smokey Bear to Joe Biden's most recent presidential campaign, and it's like he's right in front of you.
Yep, Sam Elliott certainly is one of Hollywood's treasures, one who's finally getting the recognition he deserves.
And yet at the same time, those who know him, tend to love him.
That deep, soothing voice lets you know where home is.
Luckily, we are here to help with that.
Take a look at these super interesting facts about Sam Elliott! Let us know your favorite fact at the end of the article!
Tragically, his dad, a member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, died when Elliott was 18.
“He died thinking, 'Man, this kid is going to go down the wrong path,'” Elliott said. "And I think on some levels that was either hard on me or made me more focused in my resolve to have a career.”
After decades of acting, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. When this happened, his response was so epic: "It's about [expletive] time."
Sadly, he didn't win the Oscar.
He was on the show from 1968 to 1969.
From there, he landed his first film role, Card Player No. 2, in 1969′s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
They have one of Hollywood's most enduring marriages.
The couple started dating after they starred in the horror movie, The Legacy, together.
"I didn't dare try to talk to her then," Elliott told AARP The Magazine in 2015.
When they started dating, Ross was on her fourth husband and Elliott had never been married.
Today, they have one daughter together named Cleo Rose.
You can thank Ross for getting her husband in the movie.
She cut their honeymoon short to get them home in time for the screen test.
When the actor was promoting his film, Lifeguard, he had an issue with the movie's poster.
“The one sheet [poster] for that film was an animated piece, and it had me in a pair of Speedos," he told NPR in 2017.
“And it said, 'Every girl's summer dream' over the top of it. And I was like, wow.”
After he complained about it during press interviews, Paramount wasn't jumping to hire him again.
His name was even in the script when describing the character. This made it really hard for the actor to turn down the role.
"You can't," he told Business Insider about this. "And how do you say no to the Coen brothers, period? Even when your name isn't in the script."
Remember that episode from Friends where Joey could have landed an acting role if he slept with the casting director?
Well, in the early days of Sam's career, these kinds of propositions actually happened.
"It’s probably hurt me, but I’m the one who has to live with that guilt. My conscience is clear, even though my career is still not setting the world on fire.”
If you loved hearing him say things like "The Dude abides," you're not alone.
The Coen brothers made Elliott feel exasperated by making him repeat all of his lines several times. The reason? They loved hearing him talk.
No wonder you won't catch the actor in a bad role.
"My security comes from the fact that I’ve never done a job for money," he told The Guardian.
"A certain level of security comes out of the commercial world – that allows me to turn down the dramatic stuff, or the theatrical stuff ... the acting work."
Rolling Stone once said that he has the “world’s greatest living mustache" but Elliott doesn't understand it.
“The whole mustache thing is a mystery to me,” he told Vanity Fair in 2017.
“I’m working on this thing now, A Star is Born—somebody showed me on their cell phone one day that there was this contest online between me and [Tom] Selleck about who had the best mustache. It’s so bizarre.”
While he didn't say whether or not he finds that to be a good thing or a bad thing, he does think they take pride in being able to cross lines in the world of entertainment.
In the $4 million ad titled, "Go From There," he narrates visuals of Biden interacting with Americans.
"There is only one America," he says. "No Democratic rivers. No Republican mountains. Just this great land and all that's possible on it with a fresh start."
When they got to work together on A Star is Born, they went to dinner and immediately connected.
From there, the rest was history, and Elliott knew that he would be able to trust Cooper with the movie.
"Bradley is more than capable as a director. I think he's a great director. I don't know how he does it. I've gone to set when I'm not working just to watch him in action."
"He just wants it to be real, that's what he's striving for, some kind of honesty," he told Business Insider.
Elliott has been very clear that movie making isn't about the money for him.
What matters to him is the experience that he had, and making connections with the people he got to work with at the time.
"I love Nick. I think on some level Nick is probably responsible for whatever's going on with my career right now. I think probably," he told Business Insider.
"I can't imagine that those writers and producers didn't got to Nick and say, "Who do you want to play this character, since it's a reflection of you?" And I think Nick was the one who came up with it."
In fact, he still remembers the ones that changed him.
In particular, he has always remembered not to take himself too seriously and to just play himself the best he can. No one else can be Sam Elliott, after all.
Or were you pleasantly surprised by all of the facts in this article?
Either way, let us know down below in the comment section! We would love to hear from you!
