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Elliott Gould

Elliott Gould is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated actor who has appeared in more than 75 feature films in a career spanning over 35 years.

In the tumultuous late 1960s and early '70s, Gould was among a handful of actors who personified the changes in the American zeitgeist, becoming a counterculture favorite. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance in Paul Mazursky's 1969 sexual revolution comedy Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. The following year, Gould originated the role of warfront surgeon Trapper John McIntyre in Robert Altman's seminal comedy M*A*S*H, which put him on the cover of Time magazine and brought him a Golden Globe Award nomination. Also in 1970, Gould starred in Getting Straight, with Candice Bergen.

He more recently joined the ensemble cast of the remake of the Rat Pack comedy Ocean's Eleven and its sequel, Ocean's Twelve, both directed by Steven Soderbergh. Contemporary television fans know Gould best for his recurring role as Jack Geller, Ross and Monica's father, on the long-running NBC comedy series Friends.

Gould began his career on the stage in such Broadway productions as Rumple, Say Darling and Irma La Douce. On the heels of those successes, Gould won the lead role, opposite Barbra Streisand, in David Merrick's production of I Can Get It for You Wholesale, directed by Arthur Laurents and choreographed by Herbert Ross and Nora Kaye. Traveling across the Atlantic, he starred in Comden & Green's classic musical On the Town in London's West End.

Gould then joined Carol Burnett to star in the CBS television special Once Upon a Mattress. Returning to the stage, he toured with Liza Minnelli in The Fantasticks, and with Shelley Winters in LUV. He also appeared in the original Broadway productions of Ira Levin's Drat! The Cat and Jules Pfeiffer's Little Murders.

Gould made his feature film debut in 1964's The Confession, starring Ginger Rogers. Four years later, he landed his first film starring role, playing Billy Minsky in The Night They Raided Minsky's, directed by William Friedkin. His early film work also includes Move, I Love My Wife, Little Murders, and Ingmar Bergman's first English-language film, The Touch. He went on to reunite with director Robert Altman in 1973's The Long Goodbye, portraying Raymond Chandler's famed detective Philip Marlowe, and in 1974's California Split.

During the 1970s, Gould starred in two dozen films, also including Peter Hyams' Busting and Capricorn One; Richard Attenborough's A Bridge Too Far; Mark Rydell's Harry and Walter Go to New York; The Lady Vanishes; and The Muppet Movie. His subsequent film credits include The Last Flight of Noah's Ark, The Devil and Max Devlin, Over the Brooklyn Bridge, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Barry Levinson's Bugsy, Kicking and Screaming, Johns, The Big Hit, American History X, Playing Mona Lisa and Picking Up the Pieces. He also made cameo appearances in Altman's The Player and Nashville.

Gould has also worked extensively on television, including the longform projects Bad Apple; Good as Gold, with Mary Tyler Moore; the miniseries The Shining; Bloodlines: Murder in the Family; Somebody's Daughter; Vanishing Act; and The Rules of Marriage. He also starred in the comedy series E/R, which introduced a young George Clooney. Gould has also guest starred on numerous series, most recently including the acclaimed British series Poirot, NBC's Las Vegas and a recurring role on HBO's K Street.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2007.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Elliott Gould Facts

Birth NameElliott Goldstein
OccupationActor
BirthdayAugust 29, 1938 (84)
SignVirgo
BirthplaceBrooklyn, New York, USA
Height6' 3" (1m91)  How tall is Elliott Gould compared to you?

Selected Filmography

Not available.