Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross are still going strong after 41 years of marriage, as evidenced by new pictures of them out and about together, and a source exclusively tells Closer the 1883 actor is known far and wide as the ultimate gentleman whose greatest pleasure in life is to spoil his wife rotten.
“Even after all these years, Sam still sees Katharine as his ‘dream girl,’ and he treats her that way,” the insider says. “He’s very much the old-fashioned gentleman type, he always opens doors for her, he drives her wherever she needs to go and most of the time when they run errands, he’s the one that goes into the shops while she waits in the car like royalty.”
Sam, 80, met his wife, 85, on the set of the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but wouldn’t get to know her until they both starred in the horror film The Legacy. At the time, the Tombstone actor was completely awestruck by his Katharine. “All I could do was just watch Katharine come and go. I never spoke to her. I never would even think to speak to her,” he recalled about working on the film.
Sam eventually got over his speechlessness and the two began dating before marrying in 1984. When asked about how he could make his marriage last so long, he said it boils down to “common sensibility, but we also work at being together … you don’t walk away from it. That’s how relationships last.”
“Through mutual love and a mutual respect,” he added, “At the end of the day, determination is key … There are peaks and valleys like everything else, but you have to push on.”
The insider notes that, while the Road House actor adores spoiling his wife, “It’s a two-way street.”
“Katharine dotes on Sam, too. She’s the family cook and still makes every meal for him. Most dinners are meat and potatoes because that’s his favorite and she’s all about making him happy.”
Even after four decades together, “They’re very affectionate with each other, they still hold hands when they’re out walking and there’s plenty of PDA, even when they’ve got company over.”
They welcomed daughter Cleo Rose Elliot in September 1984, who is a musician like her father. While Sam never released an album himself – Cleo put out No More Lies in November 2024 – the insider says musical talent runs in the family and is an essential part of Sam and Katharine’s long-lasting relationship.
“Sam is very musical and so is Katharine and that’s something they’ve always bonded over, to this day they still love to sing and harmonize together while Katharine plays the guitar,” the insider explains, emphasizing that they refuse to take each other for granted and are still grateful their romance has lasted the test of time.
“It’s quite unusual to see a couple that’s been together as long as they have, still be so openly in love and affectionate, they both acknowledge they got very lucky.”
