Elliott Gould couldn’t "be [himself]" while married to Barbra Streisand.
The ‘M*A*S*H*’ actor divorced the ‘Funny Girl’ star – the mother of his son Jason – in 1971, two years after they separated, and he admitted he needed to break from from their relationship in order to feel less restricted.
He said: "I couldn’t play the part. I had to be able to find myself, to be able to be myself. I couldn’t let myself live in a mould."
The former couple are still friends and Barbra often calls her ex-husband to ask about his memories of their time together as she’s writing her autobiography.
Elliott said: "And I don’t spin. It’s so precious to me, that it has to be absolutely right."
Following his nine-year marriage to Barbra, the 81-year-old actor went on to marry Jennifer Bogart – with whom he has Molly and Samuel – and though they have divorced twice and no longer live together, he’ll always regard her as his wife.
He told the Guardian newspaper: "Jenny married me three times. [I] will be married to Jenny for ever – until she can do better."
The former ‘Friends’ actor has been a compulsive gambler at times over the years but when spending time in casinos while shooting ‘Ocean’s Eleven’, he realised he’d put the habit behind him.
He explained: "As much as I love to win, I hate losing more, and there’s nothing I need that I can win."
And while Elliott has used marijuana in the past, he doesn’t smoke it any more.
He said: "Of course I smoked marijuana. I don’t do that now, because I’m centred and balanced and I don’t want to alter that."
But he did admit to having experimented with "mind-expanding drugs" such as mescaline, psilocybin and acid.
He said: "I had some experience with that and did some work behind it."
Elliott Gould couldn’t be himself with Barbra Streisand
