Hollywood relationships aren't usually known for their longevity.
If you look at the cover of celebrity gossip rags like Us Weekly and People, you'll normally
see whatever Tinsel Town flavor-of-the-week couple is currently trending.
You can expect that within a month or two, those stars will have already moved on to
their next conquests.
Every now and then, however, the stars will align, and two famous people will get together
and remain by each other's sides for the remainder of their lives.
One notable example of this rare type of long-standing celebrity relationship is that of Sam Elliott
and Katharine Ross.
The couple have been married for the better part of the last four decades.
The two met while filming the horror flick The Legacy in 1978 and married in 1984.
It was Ross's fifth marriage, while it was Elliott's first.
The couple went on to have one daughter together, whom they named Cleo Rose.
Sam Elliott, now 78, is known for his bushy mustache and his numerous biker, military,
and cowboy roles.
Recently, he has been featured in the 2015 Netflix original series The Ranch.
In 2022, he played Shae Brennon on the Paramount+ miniseries 1883.
In 2018, Elliott co-starred in A Star Is Born, playing the character Bobby Maine.
Elliott's other significant acting credits include roles in Tombstone, The Big Lebowski,
and the 2015 television series Justified.
He's also famous for being the voice of the forest fire prevention Mascot Smokey The Bear.
Katherine Ross, now 82, is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress who made
her film debut in the Civil War-themed drama movie Shenandoah in 1965.
Two years later, she landed one of the most iconic roles of her career when she played
Elaine Robinson in The Graduate.
Ross went on to appear in films such as 1969s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and 1975s
The Stepford Wives.
While she was married four times before tying the knot with Sam Elliott, none of those previous
marriages lasted more than five years.
By the time Ross and Elliott met in 1978, Katherine was more than ready to finally settle
down with someone for the long run.
Elliott had never been married before, but he, too, took their relationship very seriously.
Sam and Katherine knew right from the start that they shared a great deal of chemistry.
To say that it was love at first sight might sound a little cliché, but it's fairly accurate
in this case.
Throughout their 38 years of marriage, Katherine Ross and Sam Elliott have appeared in a total
of five films together.
Interestingly, although they both appeared in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, they
didn't actually get a chance to meet each other until filming 1978s The Legacy.
If you're a fan of either of these two remarkably talented stars, keep watching to see every
film that they acted in together.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
In the iconic 1969 western, Katharine Ross was cast to play Sundance's lover Etta Place.
Sam Elliott, on the other hand, received the far less significant role of Card Player #2.
Although they both appeared in the same film together, Elliott and Ross never had the chance
to meet each other on set.
In 2015, Elliott told AARP The Magazine, that he didn't dare try to talk to her as she was
a leading lady and he was just a "shadow on the wall" and a "glorified extra in a bar
scene".
Despite the fact that the future spouses didn't get a chance to meet each other on the Sundance
set, they both became a part of film history.
In 2003, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the US National
Film Registry for being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'.
Likewise, AFI ranked the film as the 73rd Greatest American Film on its list of "100
Years...100 Movies".
Real quick – before we tell you about the four other films that Sam Elliott and Katherine
Ross have appeared in together, take a moment to show Facts Verse a little love by giving
us a like and subscribing to the channel if you haven't already.
The Legacy
Almost a full decade after nearly missing each other on the set of Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid, Katherine Ross and Sam Elliott got the opportunity to co-star with each other
in the Richard Marquand-directed horror film The Legacy.
Ross played Maggie Walsh, while Ross played her boyfriend, Pete Danner.
The two characters are interior decorators from LA who find themselves summoned to a
British mansion while visiting England for a work-related obligation.
Once they arrive at the spooky mansion, they predictably stumble upon a dark family curse
that involves black magic and, ultimately, the lord of darkness, Satan the devil himself.
The film was met with mixed critical reactions, where the majority of critics found that the
good aspects of the film were unfortunately overshadowed by it's failings.
Despite the lukewarm reception, Ross and Elliott had a blast making the flick, as they finally
got the chance to spend some quality one-on-one time together.
When asked if Ross was first attracted to Elliott's baritone voice, mustache, and rugged
good looks, she told The Mercury News that all of those factors came into play, but more
than that, it was the time that they spent working together that led to them linking
up off the clock.
One thing led to another, and the rest is, as they say, history.
Ross was still married to her fourth husband, Gaetano 'Tom' Lisi, when she first met Elliott,
but a year after The Legacy hit theaters, they finalized their divorce.
Ross and Elliott then started dating, and just a few years later, they got married.
Four months before walking down the aisle, the couple welcomed the birth of their daughter
Cleo Rose Elliott.
In case you're curious about what she's up to these, reportedly, Cleo is a musician in
Malibu.
Murder In Texas
While this film never saw a theatrical release in theaters, it was aired as a television
film in 1981 – three years before Ross and Elliott exchanged marriage vows.
It was directed by William Hale and was based upon a true story about the death of Joan
Robinson Hill, the wife of a plastic surgeon who passed away under mysterious and rather
sketchy circumstances.
Katharine Ross played Ann Kurth Hill, while Sam Elliott played the suspected murderer
and physician Dr. John Hill.
Farrah Fawcett and Andy Griffith rounded out the film's cast by playing the characters
Joan Robinson Hill and Ash Robinson.
Murder in Texas ended up getting nominated for the 1982 Golden Globe Award for Best Mini-Series
or Motion Picture Made For TV.
Additionally, Andy Griffith was nominated for his one and only Emmy for his performance
as Ash Robinson.
The Shadow Riders
A year after Murder In Texas took television by storm, Ross and Elliott joined forces onscreen
once again in the 1982 western television film The Shadow Riders.
The film, which was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen starred Tom Selleck, Dominique Dunne,
and of course Elliott and Ross.
It was based on a 1982 novel of the same name by legendary western pulp-fiction writer Louis
L'Amour and was about two brothers who meet up after fighting in the Civil War on opposite
sides.
After returning home, they discover that their siblings were kidnapped by a band of ruthless
raiders.
Together, the two protagonists set out on an epic adventure to rescue their captured
family members.
Selleck, Elliott, and their other co-star Jeff Osterhage previously starred in the 1979
film The Sacketts together, so it was nice to see them sharing the screen once again.
Katherine Ross played Sam Elliott's character, Dal Traven's girlfriend – one of the unfortunate
souls who wound up kidnapped by the raiders.
The Hero
It would be another 35 years before Sam Elliott and his beloved wife Katherine would appear
alongside each other in a major motion picture.
In 2017, they starred in the Brett Haley-directed comedy-drama film The Hero, which follows
the story of an aging star who is forced to cope with his terminal illness.
The film was loosely based on the 2015 Indian film Ulthama Villain.
Elliott played the film's aging 'hero', while Ross played his character's ex-wife.
While the movie wasn't ever intended to be a big blockbuster commercial success, it was
received quite well by critics.
Over on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 77% approval rating based on 115 reviews.
According to the site's 'critical consensus' assessment, the film rested on Sam Elliott's
understated performance, which proved to pull it through some of its less inspired and cliched
plots.
Even in their golden years, Elliott and Ross continue to keep their acting careers alive.
In 2019, Ross appeared in the Richard Krevolin-directed film Attachments, and from 2015 to 2017, she
appeared in a production of the play Love Letters at the Malibu Playhouse.
In 2019, Sam Elliott provided the voice for the character Trusty in Disney's Lady and
The Tramp.
In 2021, he followed up his 1883 role by playing Perry in four episodes of the action-comedy
streaming television series MacGruber which was based on a recurring SNL sketch of the
same name.
Hopefully, we haven't seen the last of Sam Elliott and Katherine Ross's performances
onscreen.
Perhaps, they will one day reunite once again in a film or television show, but even if
they don't, their love story is one that is every bit as beautiful as the most sentimental
of romcoms.
Who knows, maybe someday, someone will make a movie about them!
That about wraps up this facts-packed video, but that just means it's now your turn to
let your voice be heard!
Did you know that Sam Elliott and his wife Katherine Ross have appeared in five movies
together and that they've been happily married for almost 40 years now?
Let us know in the comments.
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