He doesn’t seem to have many issues getting acting roles these days, but it appears Sam Elliott’s wife Katharine Ross seems to have the opposite kind of luck in the entertainment industry. Born in January of 1940, Katharine Ross made her film debut in Shenandoah in 1965 and is known for her role as Elaine Robinson in The Graduate.
She also made a name for herself in two 1969 western films, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here. She also co-starred opposite of her future husband Sam Elliott in the 1978 supernatural horror film The Legacy. The couple also starred in 1991’s Conagher and The Hero together.
But according to Sam Elliott, roles have slowed down for Katharine. During a 2015 interview with Now Toronto, Sam shares more details about how his wife doesn’t seem to be getting many roles. “Katharine Ross was the girl, you know? Whether it was Butch Cassidy or The Graduate, she was the gal,” Sam states. He also says she was the “it girl” in town, but she doesn’t work now.
“[Jobs don’t] come her way anymore, and she’d love to work.” Sam Elliott then says. He does clarify that Katharine does plays and “theatrical stuff,” but admits that acting is “a strange game.” When asked if he and Katharine still look for roles to do together, Sam explains that they’ve got other stuff that they’re continuing to work on. “I think I’m a little lazy in terms of generating work myself, but there’s stuff going on.”
Sam Elliott Looks Back on Previous Film ‘Frogs’
Also during the interview, Sam Elliott looks back at his previous film, Frogs. According to IMDb, the film follows a group of helpless victims that are celebrating a birthday on an island estate that is crawling with killer amphibians, birds, insects, and reptiles. The film obviously wasn’t a blockbuster, and only has a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 4.4 out of 10 on IMDb.
Speaking about the horror film, Sam Elliott shares his thoughts about Frogs. “I think through an actor’s career, at least for mine, I can draw a line through a number of projects that are kind of connected,” Sam explains. He then recalls Frogs coming out not long after he did Mission: Impossible.
“Through a connection, I had with Fox, Frogs was directly responsible for me getting Lifeguard,” Sam Elliott explains. The actor also reveals that Dan Petrie, the director of Lifeguard, and Dan’s wife were watching late-night TV and thought Sam was a guy named Adam Roarke, who also starred in Frogs. “They didn’t have a clue who I was. They got my name off the credits, found out the next day who my agent was, called me in. And then got me to meet on Lifeguard. It’s a strange game.”