Sam Elliott, a Leading Man Again at 71, No Cowboy Hat Required

Sam Elliott at his home in Malibu, Calif. Credit
Bryan Sheffield for The New York Times 

MALIBU, Calif. — Not too long ago,

the actor Sam Elliott, who has spent

much of his 46-year career alternately

 fighting and embracing habitual

typecasting as America’s cowboy, was

referred to as a “male ingénue.”

At 71, Mr. Elliott is not young, and

anyone who’s witnessed the knowing

gleam in his peepers wouldn’t for a

second peg him as innocent. But with

lauded performances this year in

three indie films and guest spots

in two acclaimed television series,

Mr. Elliott is definitely having a moment.

In May, he was named best guest

performer in a drama series at

the Critics’ Choice Television

Awards for his work on FX’s

“Justified.” The film “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” 

in which he played a leading man

for the first time in years, opposite

Blythe Danner, steadily drew

crowds despite its limited release this spring. (It was a co-star of that film, Mary Kay Place, who

slyly called Mr. Elliott an ingénue.)

He appeared in another Sundance indie,

“Digging for Fire,” and in February

returned to “Parks and Recreation” to

play the vegan hippie Ron Dunn.

But it is Mr. Elliott’s turn as a spurned

lover in “Grandma,” which stars

Lily Tomlin and opens Aug. 21, that

has garnered him some of his warmest

reviews yet: He brought a ferocious

emotional rawness to the part that

caught critics and even the director

off-guard. Variety’s Scott Foundas raved 

that Mr. Elliott had, in 10 minutes on

screen, created “a fuller, richer character

 than most actors do given two hours.” The Awards Circuit website said he should be considered 

for an Oscar.

“What he does in that moment in some

ways became the emotional core of the film,”

 said Paul Weitz, who wrote and directed

“Grandma.” “You’re not used to the idea

that this person is going to expose himself

as an actor.”

Indeed, Mr. Elliott’s resonant baritone

growl, which still weakens the knees of

female fans, and mustache, rendered in

multiple shades of handlebar, have,

over the decades, become synonymous

with stoic, steely dudes: usually cowboys

(“Tombstone,” “The Big Lebowski,”

“The Golden Compass”), followed by

bikers (“Roadhouse,” “Mask”), pilots

(“Up in the Air”) and military men

(“Hulk,” “We Were Soldiers”). That Mr.

Elliott has been able to remain, as a

septuagenarian, the man many guys want to be and gals want to be with is also a testament to his sustained, indisputable, silver foxiness. Commenting

 on a video of him speaking in January

at Sundance, one fan wrote, “This man

must be at least 87 percent testosterone.”

In “Grandma,” Mr. Elliott said, he was

able to stretch beyond the narrowed

bandwidth that comes with playing an

idealized type of man. This break from

character, he said, brought a measure of

unforeseen relief.

“I came unglued a little bit, and

it happened in the doing of it,” he said, or, rather, 

drawled. “It was a real catharsis, in a positive way.”

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