SAM ELLIOTT Biography - Actors and Actresses

 
 

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SAM ELLIOTT

Name: Samuel Pack Elliott                                                             
Born: 9 August 1944 Sacramento, California                                             
                                                                                       
Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. In films, he is       
often characterised by his rangy physique, thick horseshoe moustache and gruff         
speaking voice.                                                                       
                                                                                       
Elliott was born in Sacramento, California to a physical training instructor           
mother and a father who worked for the Department of the Interior. He moved           
from California to Oregon with his family during his teenage years, where he           
graduated from David Douglas High School in Portland, Oregon. Elliott is a             
member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the California State University,       
Los Angeles and worked in construction while studying acting in Los Angeles.           
Elliott lived for a short while in Princeton, West Virginia.                           
                                                                                       
Elliott began his career as a character actor, his appearance and bearing             
ideally suited for Westerns.                                                           
                                                                                       
His debut role in film (a bit part as 'Card Player #2') was in 1969's Butch           
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.                                                         
                                                                                       
During 1970-71, Elliott starred as Doug Robert in the hit TV series Mission:           
Impossible and later played a wife killer in the miniseries Murder in Texas (1981)     
and A Death in California (1986). He has made guest appearances on shows such as       
Felony Squad, Gunsmoke, Lancer and Hawaii Five-O and has been featured in many         
TV movies; for instance, he played Wild Bill Hickock in Buffalo Girls (1995). In       
1998, Elliot was named the grand marshall of the Calgary Stampede parade and           
rode in the procession before 300,000 spectators.                                     
                                                                                       
The young Elliott was often cast for his masculine appeal. In his early movies The     
Games, Frogs, Molly and Lawless John he performed a number of scenes without his       
shirt. In 1975's Lifeguard, he appeared in much of the movie wearing nothing           
more than a pair of swim trunks. In 1978's The Legacy, he shed all his clothes         
for a nude scene. As late as 2003, when he was in his late 50s, Elliott still         
managed to retain his sex appeal as he stripped to the waist for a scene in Off       
the Map.                                                                               
                                                                                       
Elliott's voice can be heard in as the voiceover narration for commercials from       
time to time. In the past, he has lent his voice to campaigns for Chevy, IBM,         
Union Pacific, and, most notably, took over as the voice of the American Beef         
Council after Robert Mitchum died. In 2007, Toyota hired Elliott to perform           
voice-overs for the new Toyota Tundra truck commercials, playing on the rich and       
gravelly delivery of his voice. In late 2007, Elliot has been heard doing             
voice-overs for Coors Beer, bringing his deep, rich voice and "western" appeal         
to the beer brewed in Colorado.                                                       
                                                                                       
Interestingly, the US Army's Officer Professional Development Recommended             
Reading List includes only two novels: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara and         
Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer. The one common element in both novels is that           
Elliott has a starring role in the film adaptations of both, playing a US Army         
general officer.