About Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. Gould's breakthrough role was in the film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The following year, he starred as Capt. Trapper John McIntyre in the Robert Altman film M*A*S*H (1970), for which he received BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations. Gould continued working with Altman in The Long Goodbye (1973) and California Split (1974). Other notable film roles include Getting Straight (1970), Alan Arkin's Little Murders (1971), Ingmar Bergman's The Touch (1971), Richard Attenborough's A Bridge Too Far (1977), Capricorn One (1978), The Silent Partner (1978), Barry Levinson's Bugsy (1991), American History X (1998), Steven Soderbergh's Contagion (2011), and Ruby Sparks (2012). He also starred as Reuben Tishkoff in the Ocean's film series (2001, 2004, 2007, and 2018). Gould is a member of Saturday Night Live's Five Timers' Club, having hosted six times from 1976 to 1980. He is also known on television for his recurring roles as Jack Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends (1994–2004) and Ezra Goldman in the Showtime series Ray Donovan (2013–2016). In March 1969, Gould signed a non-exclusive, four-picture contract with 20th Century Fox, the first of which was to be Robert Altman's M*A*S*H and the second Move both released in 1970. His first film released after Bob & Carol was the wartime satire M*A*S*H (1970), directed by Robert Altman, where Gould played Trapper John McIntyre. Gould chose to return to Broadway with The Guys in the Truck in 1983 but left the production after the first week of previews, replaced by Harris Laskawy. Also released that year was Move (1970), co-starring Paula Prentiss, which was his first critical and commercial flop.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.