- Born
- Birth nameElliott Goldstein
- Height6′ 3″ (1.91 m)
- Elliott Gould is an American actor known for his roles in M*A*S*H (1970), his Oscar-nominated performance in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), and more recently, his portrayal of old-time con artist Reuben Tishkoff in Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). Gould was born Elliott Goldstein on August 29, 1938 in Brooklyn, NY, to Lucille (Raver), who sold artificial flowers, and Bernard Goldstein, a textiles buyer in the garment industry. His family were Jewish immigrants (from Romania, Belarus, and Russia).
Gould's portrayal of Trapper John in Robert Altman's M*A*S*H (1970) marked the beginning of perhaps the most prolific period of his career, highlighted by such roles as Philip Marlowe in Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973) and Robert Caulfield in Capricorn One (1977).
On television Gould has the distinction of having hosted Saturday Night Live (1975) six times and helmed E/R (1984), a situation comedy set in Chicago about a divorced physician working in an emergency room, which aired for one season. He also co-starred in the series Nothing Is Easy (1986) about a couple raising an adopted Chinese boy.
Gould appeared regularly on television and in film throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, including cameos in The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). His most prominent recent television role was a recurring part on Friends (1994), on which he played Monica and Ross Geller's father Jack. More recently he voiced the character of Mr. Stoppable on the Disney Channel animated series Kim Possible (2002). In film Gould received critical acclaim for his portrayal of an older mobster in Warren Beatty's Bugsy (1991), and make a noteworthy appearance in American History X (1998). His next major TV role will be in Showtime's drama Ray Donovan (2013) starring Liev Schreiber.
Gould has been married three times, twice to Jennifer Bogart, and once to Barbra Streisand. He has three children.- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous
- SpousesJennifer Bogart(June 9, 1978 - September 5, 1989) (divorced)Jennifer Bogart(December 8, 1973 - October 5, 1975) (divorced, 2 children)Barbra Streisand(September 13, 1963 - July 6, 1971) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenMolly Gould
- ParentsLucille RaverBernard Goldstein
- Quirky nebbishes
- Towering height
- Characters often given to sarcastic quips
- Characters he plays often smoke cigars
- Very deep, rich, and baritone voice
- Has hosted Saturday Night Live (1975) six times.
- Director Ingmar Bergman denounced Gould as "difficult" after the two worked together in The Touch (1971) ("The Touch"), one of the great master's least memorable films.
- The only actor to have a cameo appearance in more than one Muppet film: The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984).
- His family were Jewish immigrants (from Romania, Belarus, and Russia).
- He and M*A*S*H (1970) co-star Donald Sutherland both own apartments in same Manhattan high-rise luxury building.
- Success didn't change me. I was already distorted before I became a star.
- [1970] The Oscars are some sort of masturbatory fantasy. People think: an Academy Award -- now if I get a parking ticket I don't have to pay it. I don't put the Award down. But, at my sanest, I would rather have a good three-man basketball game than sit here in my monkey suit.
- I had come across a paperweight that had a quotation in it, that the greatest artist in the world is an uninhibited child at play. I subscribe to that, and then I mentioned it to a late, wonderful friend, Herb Gardner, who wrote "A Thousand Clowns," and his wife, and they said to me, "And Picasso." And I said: "You keep Picasso, and I'll keep the child. Because as far as I'm concerned, without the spirit of the child, I'm not interested." To save the day, I discovered that the quotation was made by Pablo Picasso.
- My only enemy is me.
- (2013, on working with the Ocean's Eleven cast) It was great. George Clooney is a fabulous guy. He's very generous, lots of fun, very intelligent. And he set the tone. Brad Pitt was a terrific guy, and I became friendly with Matt Damon and... well, everyone, really. But I really picked up on Casey Affleck during the film. I called him "Maestro." He bit his nails lower than I ever bit mine... and I used to bite mine to the quick! Originally, Alan Arkin was going to be playing the part that Carl Reiner played, but then Alan had some sort of medical situation and couldn't do it, so we got Carl. Bernie Mac was a great guy, and we miss him. It was great working with Steven Soderbergh and Jeffrey Kurland, who did the wardrobe. The choice of wardrobe, even the glasses, that was Jeffrey Kurland.
I mentioned that I'm friendly with Casey, but I'd never really talked with Ben, so I decided to go to a gathering recently that George Clooney was having, a party for the cast of Argo. When I told Ben that I was there because I wanted to say hello and let him know how impressed I am with his craft, I think he was pleased, but then he asked me a question, which I thought was really great. He said, "Have you ever done anything in all of this that you were sorry you did?" And I took a moment, and I said, "No, because there's so many people dependent on our work for their living or their livelihood. You do something whether it works or whether it doesn't. Once you're committed and you do it, it becomes a part of your life. I wouldn't be sorry about it. I'd learn from it." So I felt that I was able to impart at least a little bit of wisdom to him.
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