Closer takes a look back at Elliott Gould’s storied Hollywood career.

“As I’ve gotten older,

what’s become of greater significance is not trying to change the world, but spending time with my family.”

— Elliott

WHEN DID Brooklyn-born Elliott Gould first know he wanted to be in showbiz? “I’m still not sure!” Elliott, who turns 79 on Aug. 29, recently confessed. “It was my parents’ idea. But I was so shy, the feeling was that performing might be good for me.” On Broadway,

he met his soon-to-be-superstar wife, Barbra Streisand, then found success of his own in counterculture comedies that made him the antihero of his generation. But fame came at a price. “I didn’t have a drug problem. I had a problem with reality,” he quipped. “I became known before I knew who I was myself.” But he re-emerged as one of the best character actors in Hollywood.

And while he found lasting love with actress Jennifer Bogart, mom to his kids Samuel and Molly, Elliott still holds a place in his heart for the mother of his first son, Jason. “We are still family,” he

recently said of Barbra, “and we love each other.”