Veteran Actor Sam Elliott Shares Secret to 35 Years of Marital Bliss with Katharine Ross

Getty Images | Joe Scarnici

Very often we come across celebrity breakups and divorces. For this reason, it’s great to know about celebrity couples who have managed to make it through thick and thin over the decades. Sam Elliot and Katharine Ross have been married for nearly 35 years—indeed, they are one of Hollywood’s successful couples.

©Getty Images | Jesse Grant

Back in 1968, Sam Elliott—a Hollywood veteran actor known for his lanky physique, bushy mustache, as well as deep distinctive voice, played a small role as a card player in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”

This was the first time Sam and Katharine appeared in the same movie. But the two actors never really spoke to each other. Sam was just a greenhorn actor, whilst Katharine had already made a name for herself in the film industry.

©Getty Images | Albert Ortega

Naturally, Sam noticed the famed Katharine, but she seemed to have no memory of him, as per the San Francisco Chronicle.

“All I could do was just watch Katharine come and go. We didn’t interact at all. I saw her a lot because I knew who she was, and I was just another guy on the lot at that point and time,” Sam said in a phone interview with NewsOK.com.

“I didn’t dare try to talk to her then. She was the leading lady. I was a shadow on the wall, a glorified extra in a bar scene,” Sam told AARP The Magazine.

©Getty Images | CHRIS DELMAS 

A decade later, in 1978, Sam met Katharine again in the horror movie “The Legacy” as the two actors starred as a couple.

Six years later, in 1984, Sam and Katharine plighted their troth to love each other for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do them part; and sure they did. After going through four failed marriages, Katharine is now going strong with Sam for 35 years and counting…!

The two also have a daughter named Cleo Ross Elliott together.

Katharine Ross, Sam Elliott and Cleo Rose Elliott arrive at the Premiere Of Warner Bros. Pictures' 'A Star Is Born' at The Shrine Auditorium on September 24, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. ©Getty Images | Neilson Barnard

So, what’s the secret to their lasting celebrity marriage?

In the opinion of Sam, for a marriage to stand the test of time, it requires work—a couple needs to face the problem and work through it together.

“We have a common sensibility, but we also work at being together,” Sam said. “That’s how relationships last.”

Sam also confessed it was difficult to stay together due to the nature of their job—having to travel regularly for work and filming schedules.

©Getty Images | Kevin Winter

Katharine too admitted working together does help foster their relationship.

“Sometimes that’s easier than real life,” Katharine said. “You’re [sic] got a script. You’ve got a part. You’ve got your creative juices flowing together. It’s not about the dirty dishes in the sink or whether you’ve picked something up at the laundry. ...”

Behind the glitz and glamor of the entertainment business, staying together as a celebrity couple can be “sort of a roller coaster ride.”

“It’s ups and downs,” Katharine said.

Sam once said: “What makes a marriage work is a mutual love and a mutual respect. There are peaks and valleys like everything else, but you have to push on.”

©Getty Images | Frazer Harrison

Sam shared with the New York Times in 2015 that he nearly turned down an audition for a notable role as Cher’s biker boyfriend in the 1985 film “Mask,” as he was with Katharine, spending their honeymoon in Hawaii.

“I can’t come,” Sam told his agent on the phone. However, not wanting her husband to miss this chance, Katharine quietly called his agent later that night, saying she’d get her husband back in time.

It transpired that acting as compassionate biker Gar in “Mask” was a turning point in Sam’s career. His portrayal “has received nearly as much critical attention as the performances by the film’s stars, Eric Stoltz and Cher,” the Los Angeles Times reported in 1985.

©Getty Images | Joe Scarnici

Though Katharine rarely gets offered any roles these days, she has worked together with her husband in various productions, such as “Conagher” and “The Hero.”

“We fantasize about working together all the time,” Sam said.

Speaking to NewsOK.com, he said: “Working with Katharine is incredible for me. It’s always been. I think our time on ‘Conagher’ was one of the highlights of my career.”

Indeed, a lifetime of love and happiness is not something that just occurs naturally. To make a marriage work, it requires patience, persistence, and lots of effort.

We wish that the love between Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross grows stronger as each day passes by.