Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades of film and television, he is recognized for his deep sonorous voice. Elliott has received various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and a National Board of Review Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
Elliott began his career with minor roles on screen, making his film debut in the western The Way West (1967). After his first leading film role in the horror Frogs (1972), Elliott gained wider attention with his breakthrough role in the drama Lifeguard (1976). He achieved commercial success with his role in the biopic Mask (1985) and received Golden Globe nominations for starring in Louis L'Amour's adaptation of Conagher (1991) and the miniseries Buffalo Girls (1995), the latter of which also earned him his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Throughout the 1990s, he portrayed John Buford in the historical drama Gettysburg (1993), Virgil Earp in the western Tombstone (1993), Sgt. Buckey O'Neill in the epic war miniseries Rough Riders (1997), and the Stranger in the crime comedy The Big Lebowski (1998).