Sam Elliott began to attract attention in a trio of minor films: as Ryan O'Neal's drug-pushing pal in "The Games" (1970), as Ray Milland's ecologically-minded houseguest in "Frogs" (1972), and as Vera Miles' no-good seducer in "Molly and Lawless John." It wasn't until 1976, however, when Elliott played the lead role in "Lifeguard" -- a modest but well-regarded film directed by Daniel Petrie -- that he emerged as an actor seemingly destined for stardom. A successful career definitely followed but full-fledged stardom somehow remained just out of reach. Just why was this?
Perhaps it might be due to the fact that Elliott had a face, voice, and manner uniquely suited to playing in westerns, but he came along at a time when the traditional Hollywood "oater" was riding into the sunset. (Had he been working during the Golden Age of TV Westerns, he might have made a fine "Flint McCullough" on "Wagon Train.") Perhaps his identification with TV mini-series and made-for-TV movies kept him from attaining "A" status in Hollywood. After all, he followed "Lifeguard" with TV roles in such projects as "Once an Eagle" (1976), "Aspen" (1977), "The Sacketts" (1979) "Wild Times" (1980), "Murder in Texas" (1981), "The Shadow Riders" (1982), "Travis McGee" (1983), etc. By the time this spate of TV had ended, Elliott had reached his 40s and no longer had that "star-of-tomorrow" quality.
Elliott did make one theatrical film during these crucial years -- 1978's "The Legacy" which co-starred his soon-to-be-wife, Katharine Ross. The movie was a second-rate hodgepodge of satanism and black magic taking place at an English country estate and it effectively stalled the career progress made by "Lifeguard." He didn't make another theatrical feature till 1985's "Mask."
Finally, another factor may have entered into Elliott's career. He was a good-looking man who looked even better with his shirt off and thus he played "beefcake" scenes in all of his early movies. (For these scenes he did not, as is often the case, shave his chest.) In "Lifeguard," in fact, he spent a good part of the film wearing nothing more than a pair of red Baywatch-style swim trunks. At one point Elliott even changed into a pair of Speedos trim enough and snug enough to prove, beyond a doubt, that he was "genitally-gifted."
And then came his nude scene in "The Legacy." For no real purpose in the plot, Elliott is shown walking naked into a shower. His back is to the camera but he's seen in full-figure and under bright lights long enough to qualify for the highest rating in the guide to film nudity called "The Bare Facts." Elliott certainly looked good in this scene, being at the peak of his physical powers, (prompting one reviewer to hail his "buns by Michelangelo"), but his willingess to flaunt his body on such a feeble excuse may have tainted him with the label -- "male bimbo." How seriously would A-directors regard an actor who seemed to be angling for a shot at a Playgirl centerfold?
Elliott's "beefcake" scenes eased (but did not cease) after the mid-1980s. By this point, however, his career seemed to stuck at the level of TV work and of playing lead roles in B-movies and character roles in A-movies. The stardom promised by "Lifeguard" never quite came into focus.
