The role that would finally break Sam Elliott into mainstream stardom was in the film Mask alongside Oscar winning actress (and Grammy winning singer) Cher. He played the gruff but kind hearted biker romantically involved with Cher and helping to raise her disabled son. But Sam almost missed out on the role of a lifetime. He was honeymooning in Hawaii when his agent called him to tell him about the opportunity.
Elliot said he wouldn’t be able to get back to California on time to do a screen test. It looked like just one more missed opportunity, one that nobody would ever know the magnitude of.
Unable To Film
A juicy role that audiences missed out on seeing Sam Elliott perform was the lead in the 1982 TV movie The Ambush Murders. The movie tells the true story of a black activist wrongfully sent to prison for the murder of two white police officers and the lawyer who takes his case and tries to get him set free. The case captured the nation’s attention in the 1970s and people were looking forward to a movie dramatizing the events.
Sam Elliott was cast in the lead role as the defence lawyer, but became sick early during production and in the end James Brolin was brought in to replace him. No big deal; it’s the sort of thing that happens all the time. But one wonders how different it could have been with the original star.
Tying The Knot
Sam and Katharine dated for around six years before finally making it official in 1984. Sam had never been married before, but for Kate it was actually her fifth marriage. Hard to believe that what would appear to be such a mismatch of experiences would go on to become one of Hollywood's longest lasting and most stable and loving marriages.
That same year they happy couple welcomed their first and only child into the world: daughter Cleo Rose Elliott. They were on their way to what everyone might have assumed would be happily ever after.
Wifey Knows Best
But Sam’s wife Kate proved to be the wise one in this situation. When she found out that Sam had decided against going to the screen test, she took matters into her own hands. She called his agent and informed him that Sam would be there come hell or high water. Kate’s initiative would prove to be crucial to establishing her husband as a major actor of note in mainstream big budget Hollywood movies. He not only held his own alongside Cher, who was at the peak of her career as an actress (not to mention one of the most famous singers of all time), but probably even managed to steal a few scenes.
The Los Angeles Times had the following to say about Elliott’s breakthrough performance: “His portrayal of the compassionate biker Gar has received nearly as much critical attention as the performances by the film’s stars, Eric Stoltz and Cher”.
A Cowboy’s Life
Even though Sam Elliott has had a rich and varied career playing all sorts of roles in all kinds of movies, it’s no exaggeration to say that he has been intimately linked with the Western genre almost since the beginning. His height, his rugged good looks, his outdoor upbringing have all helped mold his appeal to that most manly and tough of stereotypes.
Just a small selection of some of the more notable Western films in which he’s starred includes Tombstone, The Quick and the Dead, The Hi-Lo Country, You Know My Name, and The Desperate Trail. The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum honored Elliott’s career by inducting him into their Hall of Great Western Performers in 2007.