Denton County Living Well Magazine July/August 2016 | Page 10

JULY/AUGUST 2016 SPOTLIGHT From previous page The real Sam Elliott preferred taking on challenging, supporting roles, like starring opposite Cher and Eric Stoltz in Mask, a drama based on the true story of Rocky Dennis, a boy who suffered from craniodiaphyseal dysplasia. Three years later, Elliott was in 1989’s Road House, playing the mentor to Patrick Swayze’s James Dalton, a bouncer with a mysterious past. With that being said, his most beloved role may have been his performance as The Stranger in the cult classic The Big Lebowski (1998). Elliott shines portraying Western heroes and outlaws. Over the course of his career, he played wrangling cowboys in television and films including The Quick and the Dead (1987), Houston: The Legend of Texas (1986), Tombstone (1993), and You Know My Name (1999). In 2007, he was even inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum––a well deserved honor. As quoted on biography. com, Elliott has said of his penchant for westerns: “I think it has something to do with integrity and a man’s word and honor and all that kind of stuff–– values, morality, all that kind of stuff that everybody looks kind of down their noses at. As quoted on biography.com, Elliott has said of his penchant for westerns: “I think it has something to do with integrity and a man’s word and honor and all that kind of stuff––values, morality, all that kind of stuff that everybody looks kind of down their noses at.” In 2005, Elliott appeared in Thank You for Smoking, as FROM LEFT: Executive Producer Don Reo, Danny Masterson, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, Sam Elliott, Debra Winger, Ashton Kutcher and Executive Producer Jim Patterson seen at a special screening of Netflix original series The Ranch at Arclight Hollywood on March 28, 2016, in Los Angeles. 8 DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | JULY/AUGUST 2016