Elliot Gould's career....what happened?

He was considered one of the leading men in the early 70's in the same league as Redford and Newman, by 1979 he was in the Muppet Movie.

Rumor has it that he was difficult to work with and Hollywood had enough, but I don't have any of the details.

This is a man who TURNED DOWN Bob Altman McCabe & Mrs. Miller to do a forgotten bomb of a movie

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Funny, I've read that Altman turned Gould down for McCabe as not being "bankable enough." But I don't believe that -- soon Altman used Gould in The Long Goodbye and California Split, back to back. And Gould was good in both, a perfect match for Altman's style(and you can add in MASH before those.) Funny: sometimes Gould had a moustache, sometimes not. Sometimes a beard. He was a hairy guy.

Gould had a roller coaster career from 1969 through 1972. He WAS a big star in 1970, as big or bigger than Nicholson or Redford. He'd gotten an Oscar nomination for "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice"(1969) and then he was in MASH ( a big hit) and then suddenly he was in everything, even an Ingmar Bergman movie(The Touch.)

But word is that not only was Gould "difficult" -- he had a mental breakdown. He ended up fired off a movie with "Tiger" in the title(it became "What's Up Doc?" starring his ex-wife, Barbra Streisand with her in HIS role.)

Gould's "major stardom" was effectively over by 1973. Neither The Long Goodbye nor California Split(both Altman films) were hits. A buddy movie with James Caan -- Harry and Walter go to New York -- with Michael Caine and Diane Keaton as co-stars! Flopped.

Personally, I liked Gould very much as the heroic reporter in the great thriller "Capricorn One" of 1978, but he had to share the screen with other actors and...the movie isn't considered a real "prestige film."

Also in 1978, Gould made a "sleeper thriller" in Canada called The Silent Partner, but it, too, was not a big hit.

And so...it was over. Elliott Gould's shelf life as a major leading man left with the 70's. He wasn't alone -- George Segal and Ryan O'Neal and Jon Voight and James Coburn and numerous others ended their leading man days. Many would find work as character guys and in TV shows. Gould did -- Bugsy(character guy), Friends(TV.)

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It's hardly true to say he disappeared after the 70s. He was in the Oceans remake movies, American History X, Contagion and has worked regularly on TV ever since.