There can be no happiness in life without gratitude, and Sam Elliott displays both in abundance. “The two things that I wanted in my life were to have a movie career and to be married, to have a family,” Sam has said. “And it’s an embarrassment of riches that I’ve got both.” He started out building a successful acting career in the cut-throat Hollywood system. But when he met the love of his life, he didn’t let his career get in his way of finding true meaningful happiness.
Of course, with his beautiful and beloved wife at his side, his career has only gone from strength to strength in the meantime. And with an equally beautiful and loving daughter at his other side, an “embarrassment of riches” is no exaggeration.
He Can Do It All
There is no doubting that professionally Sam Elliott is an actor above all else. And a fine one too. But that is by no means the whole story of his Hollywood career. He has, at times, dabbled in production, writing, and even, on at least one memorable occasion, singing. Sam is a true Renaissance man!
Elliott produced 18 episodes of the Netflix series The Ranch, in which he also stars. He also sang a cover of the Tom Petty song “I Won’t Back Down” for the 2006 hit animated feature Barnyard, a film which prominently featured his voice work.
Love That Lasts
In the beginning, fans and friends could be forgiven for expressing a healthy dose of skepticism over the long term prospects of a relationship between Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross. Ross had, after all, already been married four times before she got together with Elliott. She was even still married to her fourth husband when she and Sam started dating. But history has proven the doubters wrong. After an amazing 33 years, their love and marriage are stronger than ever!
Elliott doesn’t deny that they have had problems at times; he merely says that when they arise, the two of them work at solving them. “We have a common sensibility, but we also work at being together”, is how he puts it.
What’s He Worth?
It’s not all about money, but money is not insignificant either. And when discussing Hollywood stars, a little healthy curiosity about net worth is to be expected. The words is that Sam Elliot’s net worth is in the neighborhood of $16 million. It would not be out of place to say that he has worked harder for his money that many wealthier Hollywood superstars.
The bulk of his wealth has obviously come from his acting work. But significant earnings can be traced to his voice-over and narration work. He also owns a number of properties in various parts of the US.
Sam’s Secret Trick
Sam Elliott’s career began during the time when the Hollywood monopoly-like studio system was still very much in control of every aspect of production, including the acting talent. He and fellow western legend Tom Selleck started out in the business together and have been friends ever since. They worked the secretaries and the folks at the Fox Studios law office in order to get first glance at any promising new scripts.
If anything caught his imagination, Sam would then contact casting agents directly to try to get the part. Nothing to be ashamed of, you gotta do what you can to get ahead in a very tough business.