Elliott Gould recently joined Fox News Digital for an interview, where the actor remembered an encounter with Elvis Presley and his unexpected question regarding his marriage.
During the 1970s, while in Las Vegas, Gould had a chance to meet Presley backstage after one of his shows at the International Hotel. This meeting was a dream come true for the actor. Detailing why he wanted so much to get together with the King of Rock and Roll, the ‘M*A*S*H’ star said:
“I had always wanted to meet Elvis. I was deeply involved in musical comedy. I was a chorus boy on Broadway — I was brought up and trained that way. So I asked if we could arrange for me to come and meet Elvis… and I got it.”
Elvis’ Curiosity About Gould’s Marriage
Gould then recalled how their first interaction was and what Elvis asked him about his divorce from Barbra Streisand:
“He said to me, ‘Why did you and Barbra break up?’ You’re two of my favorite people.’”
The actor was surprised by Presley’s question, but he had a swift response, as he replied:
“I said, ‘Shut up, Elvis.’”
Gould’s First Look At Elvis
Elsewhere, he also reflected on how Elvis looked like when he first saw him:
“I brought Joey [Walsh], the guy who wrote ‘California Split’ with me, to see Elvis. Joey and I went into the dressing room, and Elvis opened the door. He had a gold-gilded .45 pistol in his belt. His father, Vernon, and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, were in the room.”
The Actor’s Insights On The Divorce
In the 1960s, Gould and Streisand were one of the most famous couples in Hollywood before ending their relationship in 1971. They share a son named Jason, who was born in 1966. Speaking to CBS Sunday Morning in 2020, the ‘Friends’ actor opened up about his divorce from the singer, explaining:
“Well, Barbra asked me at one point, because she’s still writing her book, she said, ‘Why did we grow apart?’ And I said my question would be, ‘How could we have grown apart?’ And the answer to that is that we didn’t grow together, and the reason for that was because she became more important than us. Then I also said to her, ‘We did great. We made it very fast, and nobody has what we have. There’s you and me and our kid.’”
Elliott and Barbra crossed paths on Broadway. The actress, who was 19 at the time, was trying out for a role in a play that Gould was directing.
