A juicy role that audiences missed out on seeing Sam Elliott perform was the lead in the 1982 TV movie The Ambush Murders. The movie tells the true story of a black activist wrongfully sent to prison for the murder of two white police officers and the lawyer who takes his case and tries to get him set free. The case captured the nation’s attention in the 1970s and people were looking forward to a movie dramatizing the events.
Sam Elliott was cast in the lead role as the defence lawyer, but became sick early during production and in the end James Brolin was brought in to replace him. No big deal; it’s the sort of thing that happens all the time. But one wonders how different it could have been with the original star.
Controversial Relationship
Sam and Katharine’s budding romance faced a major hurdle at the beginning: the fact that Katharine was still officially married to movie set technician Gaetano Lisi at the time. Their marriage was already on the rocks and headed for divorce, but still, it was controversial for her to be involved with Elliott at that time.
After Ross and Lisi’s divorce was finalized it freed her and Elliott to pursue their relationship more deeply and openly. This was in fact the fourth divorce for Katharine, though Sam had never been married.
Not Interested In Being A Sex Symbol
As both Sam’s and Katharine’s professional careers and their love life seemed to be on their way up, it led to a lot of not necessarily welcome attention from the tabloids. This wasn’t helped by Sam’s infamous “mooning” scene in The Legacy. The two of them were even featured on the cover of Playgirl magazine in October 1979, when they were dubbed “Hollywood’s Sexiest Couple”. Bye bye privacy; hello notoriety.
So all of a sudden, Sam is a sex symbol. “There’s a great stigma that goes with that tag. I want to be Sam Elliott,” he said. A lot of people would have welcomed the attention, but not Sam. He wanted to be known for his work, not his butt or his love life.
Tying The Knot
Sam and Katharine dated for around six years before finally making it official in 1984. Sam had never been married before, but for Kate it was actually her fifth marriage. Hard to believe that what would appear to be such a mismatch of experiences would go on to become one of Hollywood's longest lasting and most stable and loving marriages.
That same year they happy couple welcomed their first and only child into the world: daughter Cleo Rose Elliott. They were on their way to what everyone might have assumed would be happily ever after.
Almost Passed On Mask
The role that would finally break Sam Elliott into mainstream stardom was in the film Mask alongside Oscar winning actress (and Grammy winning singer) Cher. He played the gruff but kind hearted biker romantically involved with Cher and helping to raise her disabled son. But Sam almost missed out on the role of a lifetime. He was honeymooning in Hawaii when his agent called him to tell him about the opportunity.
Elliot said he wouldn’t be able to get back to California on time to do a screen test. It looked like just one more missed opportunity, one that nobody would ever know the magnitude of.