Because of their dazzling, larger-than-life lives, Hollywood stars often attract a lot of public attention. Others, though, such as iconic Hollywood actress Sam Elliott, have drawn attention for a totally different reason: to demonstrate to the world that real love does exist.

When Sam Elliott met his future wife, Katharine Ross, she was already a well-known actress—and married. But it was love at first sight for Elliott, and he knew he’d have to be patient.

Sam Elliott, 77, has been married to his adored wife Katharine Ross for more than three decades and counting.

Sam Elliott has a lot of female admirers all around the globe. But the Hollywood star has only one lady in his sights: his wife of over four decades, Katharine Ross.
Sam and Katharine’s passionate relationship could be right out of a Hollywood romantic comedy.

They met when Katharine Ross earned the main part in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969. Meanwhile, Elliott characterized his function as a «shadow on the wall.»

Elliott said to AARP The Magazine that he was too nervous to approach her at the time, saying, «I didn’t dare try to talk to her then.» She was the star of the show. I was a glorified extra in a bar scene, a shadow on the wall.»

Elliott was smitten with Ross right away, but it wasn’t until they met again on the set of The Legacy in 1978 that he ventured to connect with her.

They clicked right away, and six years later, they were married.

Ross divorced her then-husband in 1979 and married Elliott in 1984.

Ross, who is five years Elliott’s senior, was married to her fourth spouse at the time, but Elliott had never married before.

Elliott and Ross brought their daughter, Cleo Rose, into the world the same year they married.

With a history of disastrous marriages, Ross couldn’t have been sure how well her fifth (!) would go, but three decades later, she knows she made the right choice.

«We share a sensibility, but we also work hard to be together.» You work through it, not away from it. That’s how relationships endure, according to Elliott.

Elliott and Ross even got to realize a long-held ambition of theirs: to share the screen as husband and wife. They accomplished this twice: in The Hero and in Love Letters, the latter of which Elliott describes as a career highlight.

So, how does Elliott account for the couple’s success?

«Mutual love and respect,» he adds, adding that Ross is «a pretty stable girl who has been around the block.»

At the end of the day, perseverance is essential. «There are peaks and valleys, like everything else, but you have to push on,» Elliott told the San Francisco Chronicle.