PORT TOWNSEND – Elliott Gould, who is expected to arrive in Port Townsend today from Los Angeles to be an honored guest this weekend, asked if he should wear a tie.
Told that attire in Port Townsend tends to be casual, Gould deadpanned over the phone:
“Oh, then I guess I shouldn’t come as one of the Three Musketeers.”
He settled for at least a pair of shoes and an umbrella, after hearing the tentative weather forecast.
The 69-year-old actor – whose career spans five decades and more than 70 films – will be the Port Townsend Film Festival’s honored guest.
The festival will present films, filmmakers and actors and actresses from Friday through Sunday.
Gould will open the festival at 4:30 p.m. Friday by cutting a film strip on Taylor Street.
He looks forward to “A Very Special Evening with Elliott Gould,” at the Uptown Theater on Lawrence Street at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
His featured screening choice will be “The California Split,” a 1974 Robert Altman film.
“‘California Split’ was semi-biographical,” Gould said.
He said he was the model for the character of Bill, which was played by actor George Segal.
Gould played Charlie.
In the film, the two go to Reno, Nev., where, in a series of misadventures, pick-ups and pranks, they pool their money to stake Bill in a poker game.
Bill hits a winning streak, and their relationship begins to change.
Gould said he was not Altman’s first pick for the role of Charlie.
It was Steve McQueen, who turned the part down.
