The actor Sam Elliott has always wanted to have a family. He was in love with Katharine Ross long before he met her, and he struggled for years to find the confidence to express his true feelings for her. Fortunately, she shared his sentiments, and the couple has been married for over four decades.

Sam Elliot is most known for his appearances as a biker, a soldier, and a gun-slinging cowboy in cult classics such as “The Big Lebowski,” “Tombstone,” “Gone to Texas,” and “The Quick and the Dead.”

His long, experienced frame, amazing mustache, and deep, resonant voice have been his Hollywood trademarks throughout his career. These traits have won him some awards and gotten him nominated for many more.

Aside from his job, the “Fatal Beauty” actor has achieved popularity in other areas of his life. He also has a happy personal life with a wife and child that he adores. Elliott has been married to Katharine Ross for 38 years and is still as enamored with her as he was all those years ago.

Hollywood marriages are often short-lived, and Elliott understands how much effort goes into making a relationship survive. Having said that, the “Ranch” star has always known he aspired to have a family of his own. He admitted:

“The two things I wanted most in life were a movie career and to be married and have a family.” “And the fact that I have both is an embarrassment of riches.”

Ross, like her husband, was a well-known movie actress in the 1960s and 1970s, with roles in films such as “The Graduate,” “The Final Countdown,” and “The Singing Nun,” among others.

Elliott first saw her in James Stewart’s “Shenandoah” in 1965 and fell hard for her gorgeous eyes and beauty.

Years later, they ran into one another on the set of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” where Ross was a starring actress and Elliott was only a lowly extra. Despite being in love with her for several years at the time, he never approached her. According to Country Living, he told AARP The Magazine in 2015:

“I didn’t dare to approach her at the time. She was the star of the show. “I was a glorified extra in a bar scene, a shadow on the wall.”

Despite his reservations, fortune was on his side, and he was cast opposite Ross in the 1978 picture “Legacy,” where they got to know each other a lot better. Ross claims she was drawn to Elliott’s voice, rough appearance, mustache, and much more.

Ross, who was four years Elliott’s senior, was on her fourth marriage at the time, whereas Elliott had never married. She, on the other hand, had no children from her prior marriages. Despite her unsuccessful personal relationships, the “Lifeguard” actor sees a future with the actress.

Ross left her spouse in 1979 and married Elliott in 1984 as their attraction became stronger. Later that year, they had their daughter, Cleo Rose. Today, he is grateful for his family and refers to his daughter as the love of his life.

Ross became more than Elliott’s wife after their marriage in 1984. She was well-known in the industry and aided his advancement.

Following their wedding, the couple jetted out to Hawaii for their honeymoon. While there, Elliott received a call from his agent, Ron Meyer, informing him that director Peter Bogdanovich wanted to meet with him and test him for the role of Cher’s lover in the 1985 film “Mask.”

Elliott declined, stating that he would not be interrupting his honeymoon for a job. When Ross discovered Elliott had declined the assignment, she contacted the agency and said she’d bring her husband back in time to audition.

They took off the next day. She must have recognized that the position would be pivotal for Elliott, and she was correct. Elliott was delighted to have an actress for a wife at the time.

In the years that followed, the actor couldn’t stop gushing over his wife, whom he called “the love of [his] life.” During an interview with “TV Crew Guy,” the actor expressed his gratitude for having everything he had always desired.

He said that he had a successful film career, married the woman of everyone’s dreams, and had a baby that he cherished. He referred to himself as a glutton for having it all, saying:

“You’re a real glutton, eh?” “I hope it doesn’t cause me a stomachache.”

Elliott and Ross not only had an amazing marriage, but they also co-starred in “The Hero.” Elliott plays Lee Hayden, an old Western film hero who spends his days reliving his glory days before a cancer diagnosis pushes him to confront his life and legacy. Hayden’s ex-wife is played by Ross.

On February 24, 2019, Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross attend the 91st Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood, California. Source: Getty Images

The two know that marriage is difficult, but they are determined to see it through. “We have a sensibility, but we also work hard to be together,” the “I’ll See You in My Dreams” star explained.

Elliott is a great believer in overcoming obstacles as part of a long-term partnership. During an interview in February, he quipped that after being gone from home for five months working on a war picture, he wasn’t sure whether his wife still loved him.

He said that marriage was difficult, but he is glad for his family. He said that he still considers his 38-year-old daughter, a musician, to be his baby, saying:

“She’s older chronologically, but she’s still a baby.” “You will always be my baby.”

Elliot and Ross now split their time between their oceanfront ranch in Malibu, California, which they bought in 1970, and their property in Willamette Valley, Oregon, which Elliott bought after his mother died in 2012.