Fake News: Sam Elliott, NOT Famous for Mocking Liberals, Is NOT Dead at 83

Fact Check

  • by: Alan Duke
Fake News: Sam Elliott, NOT Famous for Mocking Liberals, Is NOT Dead at 83

Is actor Sam Elliott famous for mocking liberals and is he dead at age 83? No, that's not true: This is a satirical story and not based in fact. Sam Elliott is not dead, and he is 74, not 83. He is not famous for personally mocking liberals, although his image, which featured his trademark moustache and a wry grin on his distinctive face, is often used to mock liberals in social media memes.The story also spells his name with one "t," while the actor's name has two.

The story originated from an article published on July 14, 2019 titled "Sam Elliot, Famous for Mocking Liberals, Dead at 83" (archived here) which opened:

Actor and meme king, Samuel Brutus Elliot passed away peacefully in his sleep today at the age of 83.

You've seen his image on memes all over the internet. That long moustache, scraggly grey hair, handsome mug, and mischievous smirk with words printed around him that would make any liberal in the world burst into tears of humiliation from the sharp wit to which they were just exposed. That was Sam Elliot, the iconic image of anti-liberalism presented with just a touch of sneering humor...... and that is exactly how Sam wanted it.

Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:

Sam Elliot, Famous for Mocking Liberals, Dead at 83

"Acting is just make believe. The plague of Democrats in our beautiful nation is all too real." Actor and meme king, Samuel Brutus Elliot passed away peacefully in his sleep today at th...

While Elliott is a Republican, the quote that sits atop this story is made up. Elliott never said:

"Acting is just make believe. The plague of Democrats in our beautiful nation is all too real."

Memes featuring Elliott also include made up quotes:

If you see a story reporting Elliott's death on any other site besides conservativetears.com, it was stolen. Lead Stories marks this as sature, but the stolen versions usually qualify as false since they usually are not properly labeled. Click here to see our satire policy.

NewsGuard, a company that uses trained journalist to rank the reliability of websites, describes conservativetears.com as:

A hoax website that publishes false stories about celebrity deaths.

According to NewsGuard the site does not maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability. Read their full assessment here.

We wrote about conservativetears.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:

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  Alan Duke

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

Read more about or contact Alan Duke

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