Robert Redford

Robert Redford
Robert Redford in 2006
Born	Charles Robert Redford, Jr. August 18, 1936 (1936-08-18) (age 75) Santa Monica, California, United States
Occupation	Actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist
Years active	1959–present
Spouse	Lola van Wagenen (1958–85; divorced) Sibylle Szaggars (2009–present)[1]
Children	Scott (deceased), Shauna, Jamie, Amy

Charles Robert Redford, Jr. (born August 18, 1936),^[2] better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime Achievement in 2002. His popular films include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Downhill Racer (1969), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Candidate (1972), The Sting (1973), The Way We Were (1973), The Great Gatsby (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), All the President's Men (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Natural (1984), Out of Africa (1985), Sneakers (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993),The Last Castle and Spy Game (2001). As a filmmaker, his notable films include Ordinary People (1980), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992), The Horse Whisperer (1998) and The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000).

Early life

Redford was born in Santa Monica, California. His mother, Martha W. (née Hart), was born in Texas, and his father, Charles Robert Redford, Sr. (November 19, 1914 – April 2, 1991),^[3] was a milkman-turned-accountant from Pawtucket, Rhode Island.^[4][5][6] He has a step-brother,^[7] William, from his father's re-marriage. Redford is of English, Irish, Scottish, and Scots-Irish ancestry (his surname originates in England).^{[8][9][10][11]}

Redford's family moved to Van Nuys while his father worked in El Segundo.^[7] He attended Van Nuys High School, where he was classmates with baseball player Don Drysdale.^[7] He has described himself as having been a "bad" student, finding inspiration outside the classroom, and being interested in art and sports.^[7] He hit tennis balls with Pancho Gonzales at the Los Angeles Tennis Club to warm him up. After high school, he attended the University of Colorado for a year and a half,^[7] where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.^{[citation needed]} While there, he worked at the restaurant/bar The Sink. After being asked to leave the University of Colorado, he traveled in Europe, living in France, Spain, and Italy.^[7] He later studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and took classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.^[7]

Acting career

Television

Redford's career — like that of almost all major stars who emerged in the 1950s — began in New York, where an actor could find work both in television and on stage. Starting in 1959, he appeared as a guest star on numerous programs, including The Untouchables, Whispering Smith, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Route 66, Dr. Kildare, Playhouse 90, Tate, and The Twilight Zone, among others. He earned an Emmy nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Voice of Charlie Pont (ABC, 1962). One of his last television appearances was on October 7, 1963, on Breaking Point, an ABC medical drama about psychiatry.

Theater

Redford's Broadway debut was in a small role in Tall Story (1959), followed by parts in The Highest Tree (1959) and Sunday in New York (1961). His biggest Broadway success was as the stuffy newlywed husband of Elizabeth Ashley in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (1963).

Film

Redford in Barefoot in the Park, 1967

While still largely an unknown, Redford made his screen debut in War Hunt (1962), co-starring with John Saxon in a film set during the last days of the Korean War. This film also marked the debuts of director Sydney Pollack and actor Tom Skerritt. After his Broadway success, he was cast in larger feature roles in movies. In Inside Daisy Clover (1965), he played a bisexual movie star who marries starlet Natalie Wood, and rejoined her for Pollack's This Property Is Condemned (1966) — again as her lover. The same year saw his first teaming with Jane Fonda, in Arthur Penn's The Chase. Fonda and Redford were paired again in the big screen version of Barefoot in the Park (1967)^[7] and were again co-stars in Pollack's The Electric Horseman (1979).

Redford became concerned about his blond male stereotype image and turned down roles in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate. Redford found the property he was looking for in George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), scripted by William Goldman, in which he was paired for the first time with Paul Newman.^[7] The film was a huge success and made him a bankable star,^[7] cementing his screen image as an intelligent, reliable, sometimes sardonic good guy.

Redford suffered through a few films that did not achieve box office success during this time, including Downhill Racer (1969); Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969); Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970), and The Hot Rock (1972). But his overall career was flourishing with the critical and box office hit Jeremiah Johnson (1972);^[7] the political satire The Candidate (1972); The Way We Were (1973); and the blockbuster crime caper The Sting (1973), which became one of the top 20 highest grossing movies of all time when adjusted for inflation and for which he was also nominated for an Oscar.^[7]

Between 1974 and 1976, exhibitors voted Redford Hollywood's top box-office name.^[7] His hits included The Great Gatsby (1974), The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), and Three Days of the Condor (1975). The popular and acclaimed All the President's Men (1976), directed by Alan J. Pakula and scripted once again by Goldman, was a landmark film for Redford. Not only was he the executive producer and co-star, but the film's serious subject matter — the Watergate scandal — also reflected the actor's offscreen concerns for political causes.^[7]

He also starred in a segment of the war film A Bridge Too Far (1977) and the baseball film The Natural (1984).^[7] Redford continued his involvement in mainstream Hollywood movies, though with more focus than before on directing. Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa (1985), with Redford in the male lead role opposite Meryl Streep, became an enormous critical and box office success and won seven Oscars including Best Picture.^[7]

Redford continued acting throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He co-starred with Michelle Pfeiffer in the newsroom romance Up Close & Personal, and with Kristin Scott Thomas in The Horse Whisperer, which he also directed.^[7] Redford also continued work in films with political context, such as Havana (1990), playing Jack Weil, a professional gambler in 1959 Cuba during the Revolution, as well as Sneakers (1992), Spy Game (2001), and Lions for Lambs (2007).

He appeared as a disgraced Army general sent to prison in the political thriller The Last Castle (2001), directed by Rod Lurie, someone else with a strong interest in politics. Redford, a leading environmental activist, narrated the IMAX documentary Sacred Planet (2004), a sweeping journey across the globe to some of its most exotic and endangered places. In The Clearing (2004), a thriller co-starring Helen Mirren, Redford was a successful businessman whose kidnapping unearths the secrets and inadequacies that led to his achieving the American Dream.

Redford stepped back into producing with The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), a coming-of-age road film about a young medical student, Ernesto "Che" Guevera, and his friend Alberto Granado. It also explored political and social issues of South America that influenced Guevara and shaped his future. With five years spent in the film's making, Redford was credited by director Walter Salles for being instrumental in getting it made and released.

Back in front of the camera, Redford received good notices for his role in director Lasse Hallstrom's An Unfinished Life (2005) as a cantankerous rancher who is forced to take in his estranged daughter-in-law (Jennifer Lopez) — whom he blames for his son's death — and the granddaughter he never knew he had when they fled an abusive relationship. The film, which sat on the shelf for many months while its distributor Miramax was restructured, was generally dismissed as clichéd and overly sentimental. Meanwhile, Redford returned to familiar territory when he signed on to direct and star in an update of The Candidate.^{[citation needed]}

Director

Redford at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival

Redford had long harbored ambitions to work on both sides of the camera. As early as 1969, Redford had served as the executive producer for Downhill Racer.^[7] His first outing as director was in 1980's Ordinary People, a drama about the slow disintegration of an upper-middle class family, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director.^[7] Redford was credited with obtaining a powerful dramatic performance from Mary Tyler Moore, as well as superb work from Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton, who also won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Redford did not direct again until The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), a well-crafted, though not commercially successful, screen version of John Nichols' acclaimed novel of the Southwest. The Milagro Beanfield War is the story of the people of Milagro, New Mexico, (based on the real town of Truchas in northern New Mexico) overcoming big developers who set about to ruin their community and force them out because of tax increases. Other directorial projects have included the period family drama A River Runs Through It (1992), based on Norman Maclean's novella, and the exposé Quiz Show (1994), about the quiz show scandal of the late 1950s.^[7] In the latter film, Redford worked from a screenplay by Paul Attanasio with noted cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and a strong cast that featured Paul Scofield, John Turturro, Rob Morrow, and Ralph Fiennes. Redford handpicked Morrow for his part in the film (Morrow's only high-profile feature film role to date), because he liked his work on Northern Exposure. Redford also directed Matt Damon and Will Smith in The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000).

Honors

U.S. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush pose with the Kennedy Center honorees, from left to right, actress Julie Harris, actor Robert Redford, singer Tina Turner, ballet dancer Suzanne Farrell and singer Tony Bennett on December 4, 2005, during the reception in the Blue Room at the White House.

Redford attended the University of Colorado in the 1950s and received an Honorary Degree in 1983.

In 1995, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Bard College. He was a 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award/Honorary Oscar recipient at the 74th Academy Awards.^{[citation needed]}

In 1996, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.^[12]

In December 2005, he received honors at the Kennedy Center for his contributions to American culture. The Honors recipients are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts: whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures or television.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008 he was awarded The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, one of the richest prizes in the arts, given annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life."^{[citation needed]}

The University of Southern California (USC) School of Theater announced the first annual Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists in 2009. According to the school's web site, the award was created "to honor those who have distinguished themselves not only in the exemplary quality, skill and innovation of their work, but also in their public commitment to social responsibility, to increasing awareness of global issues and events, and to inspiring and empowering young people."^[13]

Robert Redford received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Brown University at the 240th Commencement exercises on May 25, 2008.^[14] He also spoke during the ceremonies.

On 14 October 2010, he was appointed Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.

Sundance

With the financial proceeds of his acting success, starting with his salaries from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Downhill Racer, Redford bought an entire ski area on the east side of Mount Timpanogos northeast of Provo, Utah, called "Timp Haven," which was renamed "Sundance".^[7] Redford's wife Lola was from Utah and they had built a home in the area in 1963. Portions of the movie Jeremiah Johnson (1972), a film which is both one of Redford's favorites and one that has heavily influenced him, were shot near the ski area. He founded the Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute, Sundance Cinemas, Sundance Catalog, and the Sundance Channel, all in and around Park City, Utah, 30 miles (48 km) north of the Sundance ski area.^[7] The Sundance Film Festival caters to independent filmmakers in the United States and has received recognition from the industry as a place to open films. In 2008, Sundance exhibited 125 feature-length films from 34 countries, with more than 50,000 attendees.^[15] The name Sundance comes from his character the Sundance Kid. In addition, Redford owns a celebrated restaurant called Zoom, located on Main Street in the former mining town of Park City.

Mount Timpanogos, panoramic view

Independent films

Since founding the nonprofit Sundance Institute in Park City, in 1981, Redford has been deeply involved with independent film.^[7] Through its various workshop programs and popular film festival, Sundance has provided much-needed support for independent filmmakers. In 1995, Redford signed a deal with Showtime to start a 24-hour cable television channel devoted to airing independent films — the Sundance Channel premiered on February 29, 1996.

Personal life

On August 9, 1958, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Redford married Lola Van Wagenen, who dropped out of college to marry him. They had four children: David James "Jamie", Shauna, Amy Redford, and Scott Anthony Redford.

Son (David) James Redford is a writer/producer.^[16]

Scott — their first child — was born September 1, 1959, and died of sudden infant death syndrome on November 17, 1959, at age 2½ months. His remains have been buried at Provo City Cemetery in Provo, Utah. Lola and Redford divorced in 1985. He has five grandchildren: Dylan and Lena Redford (of son Jamie), Mica and Conor Schlosser (of daughter Shauna) and Eden August (of daughter Amy).^[17]

In July 2009, Redford married his longtime partner, Sibylle Szaggars, at the luxurious Louis C. Jacob Hotel in Hamburg, Germany. She had moved in with Redford in the 1990s and shares his Sundance, Utah, home.^[18]

Political activity

Redford with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson in 2009

Redford is politically liberal, and has supported environmentalism, Native American rights, and the arts. Most of his federal political contributions have been to Democrats (61%) or advocacy groups (34.6%), such as the Political Action Committee of the Directors Guild of America.^[19] Redford has on occasion also supported Republicans, including Brent Cornell Morris in his unsuccessful 1990 race for Utah's 3rd congressional district seat.^[19][20] Redford also supported Gary R. Herbert, another Republican and a friend, in Herbert's successful campaign to be elected Utah's Lieutenant Governor (he is currently the Governor of Utah). Redford is an avid environmentalist and is a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Redford has been a vocal critic of Barack Obama for his lack of follow-through on environmental policies. He wrote, "One reason I supported President Obama is because he said we must protect clean air, water and lands. But what good is it to say the right thing unless you act on it?" ^[21]

Filmography

Actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1960	Tall Story	Basketball Player
1962	War Hunt	Private Roy Loomis
1962	The Twilight Zone	Harold Beldon	1 episode: "Nothing in the Dark"
1965	Inside Daisy Clover	Wade Lewis
1965	Situation Hopeless ... But Not Serious	Captain Hank Wilson
1966	This Property Is Condemned	Owen Legate
1966	The Chase	Charlie 'Bubber' Reeves
1967	Barefoot in the Park	Paul Bratter
1969	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid	The Sundance Kid	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role also for Downhill Racer and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here
1969	Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here	Deputy Sheriff Christopher 'Coop' Cooper	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role also for Downhill Racer and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1969	Downhill Racer	David Chappellet	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role also for Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1970	Little Fauss and Big Halsy	Halsy Knox
1972	Jeremiah Johnson	Jeremiah Johnson
1972	The Candidate	Bill McKay
1972	The Hot Rock	John Archibald Dortmunder
1973	The Sting	Johnny Hooker	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
1973	The Way We Were	Hubbell Gardiner
1974	The Great Gatsby	Jay Gatsby
1975	Three Days of the Condor	Joseph Turner/The Condor
1975	The Great Waldo Pepper	Waldo Pepper
1976	All the President's Men	Bob Woodward
1977	A Bridge Too Far	Major Julian Cook
1979	The Electric Horseman	Norman 'Sonny' Steele
1980	Brubaker	Henry Brubaker
1984	The Natural	Roy Hobbs
1985	Out of Africa	Denys Finch Hatton
1986	Legal Eagles	Tom Logan
1990	Havana	Jack Weil
1992	A River Runs Through It	Narrator	Voice only Uncredited Also Producer/Director
1992	Sneakers	Martin "Marty" Bishop
1992	Incident at Oglala	Narrator
1993	Indecent Proposal	John Gage
1993	La Classe américaine	Steven
1996	Up Close & Personal	Warren Justice
1998	The Horse Whisperer	Tom Booker	Also Producer/Director
2001	Spy Game	Nathan D. Muir
2001	The Last Castle	Lt. Gen. Eugene Irwin
2004	The Clearing	Wayne Hayes
2004	Sacred Planet	Narrator
2005	An Unfinished Life	Einar Gilkyson
2006	Charlotte's Web	Ike	Voice only
2007	Lions for Lambs	Dr. Stephen Malley	Also Producer/Director

Director

Year	Title	Notes
1980	Ordinary People	Academy Award for Best Director Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film Golden Globe Award for Best Director
1988	The Milagro Beanfield War	Academy Award - Best Music, Original Score Political Film Society - Democracy Nominated - Golden Globes - Best Original Score - Motion Picture Nominated - Political Film Society - Exposé
1992	A River Runs Through It	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Director
1994	Quiz Show	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Director Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Film Nominated — Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Director
1998	The Horse Whisperer	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Director
2000	The Legend of Bagger Vance
2007	Lions for Lambs
2010	The Conspirator
2012	The Company You Keep

References

1. ^ Yahoo! News, July 15, 2009: "Robert Redford marries German girlfriend"
2. ^ "Charles Robert Redford". California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Ancestry.com. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?ti=0&indiv=try&db=cabirth1905&h=2165883. Retrieved June 16, 2011. "Name: Charles Robert Redford; Birth Date: 18 Aug 1936; Gender: Male; Mother's Maiden Name: Hart; Birth County: Los Angeles" (subscription required)
3. ^ Social Security Death Index
4. ^ Robert Redford Biography (1937–)
5. ^ Robert Redford: An American idol — Times Online
6. ^ The Sundance Kid
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w} Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2005
8. ^ http://www.powells.com/biblio?show=COMPACT%20DISC:NEW:9780307577047:50.00&page=excerpt
9. ^ RootsWeb
10. ^ Sponsored Archives: A Robert Redford Retropsective
11. ^ New England Historic Genealogical Society
12. ^ Lifetime Honors — National Medal of Arts
13. ^ Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists Accessed 2009-07-15
14. ^ Brown University to Confer Seven Honorary Degrees May 25 Accessed 2009-07-15
15. ^ Adrienne Papp. "2008 Sundance Insider". Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
16. ^ James Redofrd at IMDB
17. ^ Biography for Lola Van Wagenen
18. ^ Robert Redford marries long-term girlfriend
19. ^ ^{a b} Robert Redford's Federal campaign contributions @ Newsmeat.com
20. ^ Brent Morris — at OurCampaigns.com
21. ^ [1]

External links

• Movie, Museum Exhibits Shine New Light on US Civil War is an April 2011 radio and internet report on the Robert Redford movie "The Conspirator." The report aired on Voice of America and was written by VOA's Special English branch.
• Redford interviewed about his life, independent film making and political activism. January 2010, 45 minute video and audio interview with transcript.
• Cinema Retro covers Robert Redford at Trinity College in Dublin
• Robert Redford at the Internet Movie Database
• Sundance Resort
• The Sundance Institute
• Robert Redford slideshow at AMCtv.com
• Redford Teams up to Train Minority Filmmakers NY Daily News, May 15, 2009
• Robert Redford: Through the Years - slideshow by Life magazine

Persondata
Name	Redford, Robert
Alternative names	Redford, Charles Robert, Jr.
Short description	American actor, director, producer
Date of birth	1936-08-18
Place of birth	Santa Monica California, United States
Date of death
Place of death