What Does Sam Elliott Look Like Without His Trademark Mustache? – The List

If you know anything at all about Sam Elliott, it’s almost certainly that he has an absolutely iconic mustache. If you’re trying to convince someone else that they’ve seen Elliott before, you could always bring up his roles in “Hulk,” “Landman,” or “The Ranch,” or maybe even the fact that he voiced Smokey Bear for a time, and you may eventually get a nod. However, all you have to do is say, “He’s the guy with the big, white mustache,” and there’s a solid chance they’ll immediately know exactly who you’re talking about. But have you ever wondered what Elliott looks like without his signature piece of facial hair?

Notably, while the “1883” star’s mustache has since become an arguably indispensable staple of his appearance, he actually went without it much more often when he was still in the early days of what would prove to be a stunning transformation for Elliott. For example, a clean-shaven Elliott can be seen during his brief appearance in 1969’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” as well as in a 1972 episode of “Gunsmoke” he guest-starred in. Plus, if you take a look below, you can see an actor headshot of a pre-mustache Elliott believed to be from 1968.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Of course, while it’s much rarer for Elliott to go without his mustache this side of his long career, it’s also not entirely unheard of. In fact, the actor famously shaved his upper lip for the TV series “Justified” in 2015 (which is just one of Elliott’s many famous Western roles). With that in mind, Elliott turned up to a number of events ‘stache-less around that time — including the cast party for “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” as pictured below.

Michael Loccisano/Getty

While it’s difficult for many fans of Sam Elliott to imagine him without his trademark mustache, the actor himself has stated on multiple occasions that he hardly sees his facial hair as sacrosanct. Granted, that much should already be obvious, given the fact that he’s happily shaved it for projects like “Justified.” More than that, though, Elliott has also made it clear that he doesn’t see his mustache as being especially worthy of special attention and denied having a beauty routine for it. “Nope, it’s just there. I keep it clean. That’s my only regimen,” he told the New York Post in June 2017, seemingly implying that you’ll never catch him using fancy mustache care products.

Later, during an appearance on “Today” in February 2022, Elliott further confessed that he found it a bit “weird” that his mustache became as popular as it did. “It’s just hair on somebody’s lip, you know?” he said. “I’m comfortable with it or without it. I’ve worked without it a number of times over the years,” he continued, adding, “I mean, I work with it now. I’m doing a thing on a show called ‘Family Guy’ in which the mustache is a big part of it. The guy runs a ranch … on which he raises mustaches.”

Elliott was, of course, referring to the character of Mayor Wild West, the fictional cousin of late TV legend Adam West, who was created to succeed the “Family Guy” version of Adam as the mayor of Quahog following the “Batman” star’s 2017 death. Do you think the residents of the animated town ever wonder what their mayor looks like when he’s clean-shaven?