Legendary Actor Robert Redford in Retrospect
Robert Redford: A Legendary Environmentalist and Hollywood Icon
Robert Redford, the iconic Hollywood star, was born and raised in Santa Monica in the 1940s and '50s. His breakout role came in 1969 with the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", which earned him instant recognition with one of the most iconic faces in the industry.
Redford's passion for the environment led him to purchase a massive spread in Utah, where he founded the Sundance Film Festival in 1985. The festival, which has since become a key factor in the independent film universe, was an extension of the Sundance Institute he founded in 1978.
In 1976, Redford spent months inside The Washington Post, working closely with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein for the Watergate film project. He hired William Goldman to write the script for the Watergate film, eight years after their collaboration on "Butch Cassidy". Goldman's work remained mainly intact, according to an analysis of the various drafts by Richard Stayton for the WGA's magazine.
However, when Redford grew dissatisfied with Goldman's work, he let Bernstein and Nora Ephron tackle the story, then worked on it himself with director Alan J. Pakula. The Watergate film, driven by Redford's production, became an instant classic.
Throughout his career, Redford was a zealous supporter of Native American and LGBTQ rights. His movies were often tinged with his unabashedly liberal politics. In 2018, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the country he was born into during the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings, posting on the Sundance website.
Despite his fame, Redford had a reputation for being chronically late or not showing up at all. A friend of the author once flew to Utah to meet with Redford, but he never appeared. Another friend spent more than a week waiting for an interview with the star.
In 2014, Redford met the author in New York for a two-and-a-half-hour conversation. During their discussion, Redford admitted that he never imagined the Sundance Film Festival would turn into such a behemoth, while also feeling disappointed by where it ended up.
Robert Redford's contributions to the film industry and his advocacy for various social causes will forever be remembered. In 1980, he won his first Oscar for directing "Ordinary People". Despite his passing in 2020, his legacy continues to inspire and influence the world of cinema.
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