Actor Sam Elliott has “a deeply loving” relationship with his only child, daughter Cleo. Despite Cleo being 38 and someone’s fiancée, Elliot still thinks of her as his baby. Unfortunately, the actor’s wife, Katharine Ross, had a tough time relating so well with her daughter. Sam Elliot is a fan-favorite, recognized worldwide for his lanky yet experienced build, impressive mustache, and signature deep and resonant voice.
Besides playing numerous biker, military, and gun-slinging cowboy roles in cult favorites such as “Gone To Texas,” “The Quick and the Dead,” “The Big Lebowski,” and “Tombstone,” the actor is a family man, married to the love of his life “The Hero” actress Katharine Ross for nearly four decades.
The pair first met on the set of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” but their love story had begun years earlier, albeit one-sided. Elliot first spotted Ross when she starred in James Stewart’s 1965 “Shenandoah” and fell hard for her beautiful face and delicate features.
Elliot thought falling in love with Ross, an accomplished actress at the time, was a pipe dream, and when they met again in1969, on “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” Elliot did not dare approach her. After all, she was a leading lady in the film, while he only had a small role as “card player no. 2.” He mused:
“I was a shadow on the wall, a glorified extra in a bar scene.”
He did not think he stood a chance with “The Graduate” actress until fate threw them in each other’s paths in 1978 when they costarred in “The Legacy.” Things escalated quickly, and the pair walked down the aisle in 1984, welcoming their daughter Cleo later that year.
An only child of the power couple, Cleo grew up in Malibu and went to Colin McEwan High School and Malibu High School, where she studied guitar and flute. She also attended the Joanne Baron/D.W. Brown Acting studio in Santa Monica for a few years.
Elliot undeniably passed on his vocal talents to his daughter. Still, it was Cleo that introduced him to singer Lady Gaga’s work before he collaborated with the “Shallow” singer on “A Star is Born.”
Cleo, 38, may not have followed in her parents’ acting footsteps, but she is sure an entertainer. She is a musician based in Malibu whose career was mainly influenced by Guns N’ Roses and Pink Floyd.
She credits her parents for encouraging her pursuit of music and has written all but one song on her album. She started singing young with the encouragement of her grandmother and says she prefers live performances to recordings. But her talents do not stop at music. Cleo is also a model and has been since 2003.
Elliott’s “Baby” Daughter Is Bates’ Fiancée
Cleo has managed to keep a very low profile for a person who has grown up with two celebrity parents. Her private life, and her Instagram account, remain just that — personal.
She has, however, posed severally with her parents in public. In 2019, she was photographed alongside her father when he earned his first Oscar nomination for “A Star is Born.” Cleo also attended the 91st annual Academy Awards with her family.
Even so, some details about her love life are known. The singer is seemingly in a romantic relationship with her singer partner Randy Christopher Bates, and she is consistently featured on his Instagram. Bates is an outdoors lover and has a knack for mountain biking.
Based on his Instagram posts, the two enjoy off-road excursions, but they have also appeared on the red carpet together, where Bates referred to Cleo as his “amazing fiancée.”
The pair appears to have started dating in 2013, as that is the first time Bates posted a photo of them together skiing in the mountains. In 2019, they stepped out on the red carpet together again to support Elliot at the Oscars.
Elliot still considers Cleo his baby, but that has not prevented him from forging a good relationship with Bates. In 2018, Bates posted a photo of him and Elliot leaning on a truck after the family had quite the epic night on Elliot’s ranch.
It is an open secret that, like his daughter, Elliot is equally private about his life, and it may have taken a lot for him to let Bates post the photo of them on his ranch. Whether or not Bates and Cleo are still together is unknown since their last photo on Bates’ Instagram is dated three years ago, in 2019.
Sam Elliott’s Relationship with His Daughter, Who Once Made Mom Afraid
Despite Cleo being 38, Elliot admits she is still a baby to him, something many parents can relate to. Speaking with Mac Maron on his podcast, Elliot stated:
“She’s maybe older chronologically, but she’s a baby. Still, always be my baby.”
The actor also boasted of a close and loving relationship with his daughter, saying: “I have a deeply loving relationship with my daughter Cleo Cole Elliott, who I see almost daily.”
While the father and daughter’s relationship is admirable, it has not always been smooth sailing for Cleo and her mother. Growing up, Cleo was quite the rebel, and Ross revealed that her young daughter verbally and emotionally abused her.
Things only worsened when Cleo turned 12 or 13 and became increasingly violent. Ross recalls that Cleo had one day lost her temper and threatened to kill her mother, and when Ross rushed to call the police, Cleo snipped at the telephone line with scissors.
It remains unclear what may have instigated the violent outburst, but Ross had to take action and filed for a restricting order against her daughter. The court documents further indicated that police had to be present whenever Cleo wanted to go to the family’s Pacific Coast Highway home.
Cleo also had to sever all contact with Ross and remain at least 100 yards from her home, car, or workplace. The family has remained quiet about the 2011 incident.
They, however, appear to have gone past that and reconciled. Mother and daughter have appeared severally in public and seem loving and friendly towards each other.