Sam Elliott & Katharine Ross: A Timeline Of Their 42-Year Marriage

Hollywood marriages aren't known for their longevity, but Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross' lasting love has stood the test of time for over 40 years. Ross began her Hollywood career while in college and is best known to most audiences for playing Mrs. Robinson's daughter Elaine in "The Graduate." Elliott's career began with small parts and character actor roles before his breakout performance in "Mask" and eventual status as a cowboy and Western icon thanks to roles in "Tombstone" and "The Big Lebowski," as well as TV series like "Landman."

Prior to their relationship, Ross had multiple marriages, compared to Elliott's dating life, which is largely unknown prior to his relationship with Ross. But the fifth time was the charm for Ross, who wed Elliott in 1984 and never looked back. The couple has starred together in multiple projects, welcomed a daughter, and spent much of their time in the Pacific Northwest in Oregon, a fitting place for a couple that first crossed paths on one of the most iconic Westerns of all time.

Katharine Ross starred in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" alongside Robert Redford and Paul Newman and a large cast, including a then-unknown Sam Elliott. At the time, she was coming out of her second marriage and pursuing a relationship with the film's cinematographer, Conrad Hall, at the time of filming. As for Elliott's role in the film, he told AARP magazine he was a "glorified extra in a bar scene." He added, "I didn't dare try to talk to her then. She was the leading lady."

Elliott didn't share a scene with Ross or even meet her on the set, but he vividly recalled being awestruck by her. "All I could do was just watch Katharine come and go," he told The Oklahoman in 2018. "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 [in] time."

Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross met and fell in love on the set of 1978's "The Legacy," a horror film shot in England in which they actually shared scenes together. As they got to know one another, they realized they had grown up near each other. "It turned out we probably grew up about 80 miles apart in California, but we had to go 'across the pond' to meet," Ross told The San Luis Obispo Tribune in 2019.

This time, Ross was the one who was enamored with Elliott, praising his dedication to their work. "He was very particular about the script and the dialogue and how things were said," she told the outlet. "He was not afraid to speak up about what he thought." She also added that he had two traits that stuck out and proved to be very appealing. "There are two things that are iconic [about Elliott]: his mustache and his voice." When asked by The Mercury News a couple of years earlier about which element drew her in, she replied, "Probably all that and more. We were working together, and one thing led to another. And here we are."

Katharine Ross had been married four times by the time she and Sam Elliott formally met and began a relationship. Ross had previously wed her college boyfriend Joel Fabiani from 1960 to 1962, followed by her marriage to John Marion, from 1964 to 1967. Then she was married to her "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" cinematographer Conrad Hall from 1969 to 1973, and finally Gaetano "Tom" Lisi, whom she met on the set of "The Stepford Wives" and was married to from 1974 to 1979. 

On the other hand, Elliott had never been married. According to People, though they met in 1978 while she was still married to Lisi, Ross didn't pursue a relationship with Elliott until after her divorce in 1979. The couple later wed in 1984 and have been together ever since.

Shortly into their relationship, Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross starred together in the first of several TV movies, "Murder in Texas" in 1981, followed the next year by "The Shadow Riders," and the next by "Travis McGee." Many of their projects together involved a mystery and/or crime element and took place in the West, more often than not in Texas. Both partners pride themselves on their work in Westerns and on their respective inductions into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Great Western Performers.

One of their favorite projects together was the made-for-TV Western "Conagher," based on the 1969 Louis L'Amour novel of the same name. "Conagher" was a passion project for the couple. As Ross explained to The Oklahoman, she and Elliott worked on the script after "The Shadow Riders" at the request of L'Amour. Looking back on the project, Elliott told the outlet, "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. I know that I'm always gonna feel that way."

After about five years together, Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott married in 1984. In 2018, Ross laughed as she told The Oklahoman of their marriage, "You just ride the roller coaster — and hang on tight." As mentioned above, Ross' marriage to Elliott was her fifth, but it ended up her final marriage because the couple has remained together for over 40 years.

Elliott added, "I think the bottom line is you've gotta want to be married. You've got to be in love with whoever it is, and you've got to be willing to work at it because it's definitely a two-way street. Once you figure that out, I mean the rest of it is like Katharine said, it's riding the storm, basically."

When Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross became a couple, Ross' career had reached its peak, thanks to memorable roles in the 1960s and '70s in films like "The Graduate," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and "The Stepford Wives. Elliott's was still in second gear with plenty of work but nothing strictly memorable or star-making. That is until he landed the role of Gar in the 1985 film "Mask," alongside Cher, who dated many famous men, and Eric Stoltz.

The motorcycle-riding character wasn't too far off from what would become Elliott's on-screen cowboy persona, and it helped launch him to a level of stardom that he has sustained to this day. But Elliott almost passed on the role because he happened to be on his honeymoon in Hawaii with Ross. According to a New York Times profile, when his agent called with the offer, he said, "I can't come." Later that night, Ross apparently called the agent back and assured them she'd have him back in time for filming. The role took Elliott from working actor to heartthrob and, eventually, "Landman" icon.

Shortly after they tied the knot, Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross welcomed their one and only child, a daughter named Cleo Rose Elliott. Cleo was raised in Malibu, California, but was more interested in pursuing music than acting. "I got all their old vinyl," Cleo told The Malibu Times in 2008. "So some of my favorite albums are Led Zeppelin, The Cars' 'Heartbeat City,' The Allman Brothers' 'Eat a Peach,' and maybe some old Madonna." She also noted she was training as an opera singer to better sing rock and roll, explaining, "Classical opera is the best way to warm up your voice for singing rock. You don't want to lose your voice rocking out."

Cleo released one album, titled "No More Lies," in 2008, but appears to have shifted gears since then. In March 2026, she did her mom's hair and makeup for the Actor Awards (previously the SAG Awards) and shared the moment on Instagram. "Had a lot of fun doing my Mom's hair and makeup for the SAG Awards ... and so proud of my Dad and the entire cast of ["Landman"] for their nomination!" she wrote in the caption. Cleo also regularly posts sweet moments and throwback pics of her parents for their anniversary, as well as Mother's Day and Father's Day.

Both Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross spent parts of their childhoods in Northern California, but Elliott eventually moved to Oregon, a place he fell in love with and returned to regularly. Elliott has owned his family's farm northeast of Portland since 2012, and the couple likes to spend time in the area as much as possible. "We talk about getting out of La La Land and moving up there permanently," Ross told The Mercury News of their long-term plans. "But that talk has been going on for a long time."

Ross is also an avid equestrian and has been riding since she was 7. As she told Cowboys & Indians, "I first fell in love with horses at the age of 7 on a pony ride, going around in circles, grinning from ear to ear as I was jumping about on this very uncomfortable ride. I rode in the films 'Rodeo Girl,' 'The Legacy,' and 'Shadow Riders.' My own horse was the first thing I bought after I did my first movie, 'Shenandoah.'" In a separate interview with the outlet, Elliott admitted he "got much closer to horses after I got into the movie business  —  out of necessity. I was never much for trail rides and that kind of stuff," he said. He added that he wasn't always a consistent rider but has long admired the Western/cowboy way of life. "It's a set of values that you're introduced to or you adopt during your lifetime," he continued. "It's just a way of thinking. And it's certainly a way of living."

Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott took a long break between projects together after "Conagher," a project close to their hearts. They reunited on-screen again in 2017 for "The Hero," in which Elliott plays an aging Western star, while Ross plays his ex-wife. When speaking on working together, Ross told The San Luis Obispo Tribune, "Sometimes that's easier than real life. You've 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."

Elliott also spoke about working with his wife on the film, telling the Los Angeles Times, "I think we just like making movies, and having that creative experience together is the best. It's just fun. It's a whole different kind of energy to go home with [someone] you're working with rather than go home to somebody who isn't working. It's a totally positive experience."

When it comes to Hollywood marriages and relationships, Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross have defied the odds with their four-decade-long, still-active marriage. They've successfully navigated working together and support one another by appearing on red carpets as a duo on a regular basis. The secret to their longevity was summed up nicely by Elliott while promoting "The Hero" in 2017.

As he told NPR at the time, "I think really what it boils down to is we love each other, and we work at it. And I think more importantly than anything, it takes wanting to be married. The two things that I wanted in my life were to have a movie career and to be married, to have a family. And it's an embarrassment of riches that I've got both. And unlike ["The Hero" protagonist] Lee Hayden, who couldn't balance those two things and made such a mess of it, Katharine and I managed to make it work. And Cleo's right along the way with us, and ... It's just the best."