Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s,
and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H,
The Long Goodbye, and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In recent years, he has starred in a recurring
role as Jack Geller on Friends and as Reuben Tishkoff in Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve,
and Ocean's Thirteen.
Early life Gould was born in Brooklyn, New York. His
mother, Lucille, sold artificial flowers to beauty shops, and his father, Bernard Goldstein,
worked in the garment business as a textiles buyer. His family was Jewish, and his grandparents
were immigrants from Ukraine, Poland, and Russia. He graduated from the Professional
Children's School. Career
Gould's performance in Paul Mazursky's successful 1969 comedy Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice proved
to be his breakout role. Indeed, he earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actor. Gould soon became one of the most prominent
American film actors of the early 1970s. He is perhaps best known for playing Trapper
John in Robert Altman's satirical 1970 film MASH. Time magazine placed him on one of its
covers in 1970, when he was at the brief height of his long career, calling him a "star for
an uptight age". Gould played the detective Philip Marlowe
in Altman's landmark 1973 film noir The Long Goodbye. The role had previously been played
by such distinguished actors as Humphrey Bogart and Dick Powell, and would later be essayed
by Robert Mitchum, but Gould's naturalistic performance represented Altman's modern, somewhat
controversial revision of the material. He soon collaborated with Altman again, as a
gambling addict alongside George Segal in California Split. He later cameoed as himself
in the Altman films Nashville and The Player. He hosted Saturday Night Live six times, his
final time being the first episode of the disastrous Jean Doumanian season in November
1980, where he was shocked to find that the original cast and producer had left and a
new cast and producer had taken their place. He has never hosted after that, but has appeared
in a season 16 episode hosted by Tom Hanks where Hanks is welcomed into the Five-Timers
club, a society for celebrities who have hosted SNL five times or more. Also in 1980, Gould
filmed two movies for Disney studios, The Last Flight of Noah's Ark and The Devil and
Max Devlin, in which he co-starred with Bill Cosby.
Gould's Broadway theatre credits include Irma La Douce, Say, Darling, I Can Get It for You
Wholesale, Drat! The Cat!, and Little Murders. He purchased the screen rights to Little Murders,
and in addition to acting in the film version, served as uncredited executive producer.
Other notable roles during this time include performances in A Bridge Too Far, Capricorn
One, and a remake of The Lady Vanishes. His career slowed down after a series of critical
and commercial flops in the mid-to-late 1970s, but he has still appeared in a number of supporting
and character roles in prominent television shows and movies. He starred in a sitcom called
E/R in 1984–1985, and had a notable recurring guest role on Friends as Jack Geller, the
father of Monica and Ross Geller. More recently he has had a prominent recurring role on Ray
Donovan and is set for a regular role in the upcoming sitcom Mulaney.
Gould received critical praise for his performances as an aging mobster in Warren Beatty's 1991
film Bugsy and as the boyfriend of the protagonist's mother in American History X. He also co-starred
as Reuben Tishkoff in the popular "caper" film Ocean's Eleven and its sequels: Ocean's
Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. Other recent films roles include supporting turns in Contagion
and Ruby Sparks. In 2005 he was the guest star in a feature-length
episode of the UK TV series Poirot, The Mystery of the Blue Train and he has recently guest
starred on a number of television series including Law & Order and CSI. He has also loaned his
voice to several animated series, most notable among them, the Disney Channel animated series
Kim Possible and the 2006 video game Scarface: The World Is Yours.
Gould currently serves on the Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors.
Personal life
Gould has said that he has a "very deep Jewish identity". He has been married three times,
twice to the same woman: Barbra Streisand
Jennifer Bogart. They were divorced twice. The couple had two children. Jennifer's father
was director Paul Bogart. Gould became one of the many celebrity producers
of The 1 Second Film collaboration in June 2009 and is known for his association to charitable
causes such as Save Ellis Island. Filmography
1960s 1964 Once Upon a Mattress – Jester
1964 The Confession – the Mute 1968 The Night They Raided Minsky's – Billy
Minsky 1969 Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice – Ted
1970s 1970 Move – Hiram Jaffe
1970 Airport – – Voice 1970 I Love My Wife – Richard Burrows
1970 Getting Straight – Harry Bailey 1970 M*A*S*H – Capt. "Trapper" John Francis
Xavier McIntyre 1971 The Touch – David Kovac
1971 A Glimpse of Tiger – also producer 1971 Little Murders – Alfred Chamberlain
1972 The Special London Bridge Special – The Villain
1973 Who? – Sean Rogers 1973 The Long Goodbye – Philip Marlowe
1974 California Split – Charlie Waters 1974 Busting – Vice Detective Michael Keneely
1974 S*P*Y*S – Griff 1975 Mean Johnny Barrows – The Professor
1975 Nashville – Himself 1975 Whiffs – Dudley Frapper
1976 I Will, I Will for Now – Les Bingham 1976 Harry And Walter Go To New York – Walter
Hill 1977 A Bridge Too Far – Col. Bobby Stout
1978 Matilda – Bernie Bonnelli 1978 The Silent Partner – Miles Cullen
1978 Capricorn One – Robert Caulfield 1979 Escape to Athena – Charlie Dane
1979 The Lady Vanishes – Robert Condon 1979 The Muppet Movie – Beauty Contest Compere
1980s 1980 Falling in Love Again – Harry Lewis
1980 Saturday Night Live – JurorHimself 1980 The Last Flight of Noah's Ark – Noah
Dugan 1981 The Devil and Max Devlin – Max Devlin
1981 Dirty Tricks – Prof. Colin Chandler 1982 The Rules of Marriage
1983 Faerie Tale Theatre – The Giant 1983 E/R – Dr. Howard Sheinfeld
1983 Tramps 1984 The Muppets Take Manhattan – Cop in
Pete's 1984 The Naked Face – Angeli
1984 Over the Brooklyn Bridge – Alby Sherman 1984 Terror in the Aisles – archival footage
1985 George Burns Comedy Week – 1986 Vanishing Act – Lieutenant Rudameyer
1986 The Twilight Zone – Harry Folger 1986 The Myth
1986 Tall Tales and Legends – Casey 1987 Dangerous Love – Rick
1987 Lethal Obsession (de) – Serge Gart 1987 I miei primi 40 anni (it) – Nino Ranuzzi
1987 Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8 – Leonard Weinglass
1987 Frogs – Bill Anderson 1987 The Telephone – Rodney
1987 Inside Out – Jimmy Morgan 1988 Act of Betrayal – Callaghan
1988 Paul Reiser: Out on a Whim 1989 Murder, She Wrote – Lt. J. T. Hanna
1989 Judgement – Judge Callow 1989 Secret Scandal
1989 The Night Visitor – Ron Devereaux 1989 The Big Picture – Lawyer
1989 Massacre Play – Theo Steiner 1990s
1990 I'll Be Going Now – Alcide 1990 Stolen: One Husband – Martin Slade
1990 The Lemon Sisters – Fred Frank 1991 Dead Men Don't Die – Barry Barron
1991 Bugsy – Harry Greenberg 1992 Somebody's Daughter – Hindeman
1992 The Player – Himself 1992 Wet and Wild Summer! – Mike McCain
1992 Beyond Justice – Lawyer 1993 Bloodlines: Murder in the Family – Stewart
Woodman 1993 Amore! – George Levine
1993 Hoffman's Hunger – Felix Hoffman 1994 Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult – Himself
1994 The Glass Shield – Greenspan 1994 The Dangerous – Levine
1994 Bleeding Hearts – Mr. Baum 1994 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
– Vincent Winniger 1995 A Boy Called Hate – Richard
1995 P.C.H – Randy's Father 1995 Cybill – As himself
1995 Cover Me Capt. Richards 1995 Kicking and Screaming – Grover's Dad
1995 The Feminine Touch – Kahn 1996 johns – Manny Gold
1996 Busted – TV Show Host 1997 Inside Out – Aaron's Father
1997 City of Industry – Gangster 1997 Camp Stories – Older David Katz
1997 Hotel Shanghai – Hutchinson 1997 The Shining – Stuart Ullman
1998 Michael Kael vs. the World News Company – Coogan
1998 The Big Hit – Morton Shulman 1998 Getting Personal – Jack Kacmarczyk
1998 American History X – Murray 1999 Mentors – Albert Einstein
2000s
2000 Picking Up the Pieces – Father LaCage 2000 Boys Life 3 – Aaron's Father
2000 Playing Mona Lisa – Bernie Goldstein 2001 Ocean's Eleven – Reuben Tishkoff
2001 The Experience Box – Dr. Keith Huber 2002 Puckoon – Dr. Goldstein
2002 The Cat Returns 2003 Friends – Jack Geller
2003 Las Vegas – The Professor 2004 From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks
– Narrator 2004 Ocean's Twelve – Reuben Tishkoff
2004 Bad Apple – Buddha Stanzione 2005 Poirot – Rufus Van Aldin
2006 Open Window – John 2006 Masters of Horror episode "The Screwfly
Solution" – Barney 2007 Saving Sarah Cain – Bill
2007 Ocean's Thirteen – Reuben Tishkoff 2007 The Ten Commandments – God
2007 WordGirl – The Masked Meat Marauder 2008 The Deal – Rabbi Seth Gutterman
2008 The Caller – Frank Turlotte 2009 Noah's Ark: The New Beginning – God
2009 Little Hercules in 3-D – Socrates 2009 The Life & Times of Tim – Dr. Fishman
2009 Morning – TBA 2010s
2010 Expecting Mary – Horace Weitzel 2010 Uncorked – Paul Browning
2011 Contagion – Dr. Ian Sussman 2011 The Cape – Samuel
2012 Ruby Sparks – Dr. Rosenthal 2012 Divorce Invitation
2012 Dorfman – Burt Dorfman 2012 Switchmas - Sam Finkelstein
2013 Ray Donovan – Ezra Goodman 2014 Sensitive Skin
2014 Mulaney - Oscar References
External links Elliott Gould at the Internet Movie Database
Elliott Gould at the Internet Broadway Database Elliott Gould at the Internet Off-Broadway
Database Village Voice article