Posted on 09/16/2025 6:06:53 AM PDT by Dacula
"I've spent most of my life just focused on the road ahead, not looking back," Redford said in the acceptance speech for his 2002 honorary Oscar. "But now tonight, I'm seeing in the rearview mirror that there is something I've not thought about much, called history."
American actors Robert Redford and Paul Newman on the set of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill. Robert Redford and Paul Newman on the set of 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Born Aug. 18, 1936 in Santa Monica, Calif., Redford was a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1959's Tall Story, followed by a lead in 1963's Barefoot in the Park — a role he reprised in the 1967 film adaptation alongside Jane Fonda. His onscreen career began in the early 1960s with roles on TV shows like Tate, Route 66, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables.
And of course, his career reached new heights in 1969 when he landed the role of outlaw the Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid alongside Paul Newman.
“I was being put up for Butch Cassidy because I’d done the comedy. But that part didn't interest me,” Redford told Collider in 2019. “What interested me was the Sundance Kid because I could relate to that based on my own experience and particularly my own childhood and feeling like an outlaw most of my life. So I told [director] George [Roy Hill], and he knew Paul really well and knew he was much more like Butch Cassidy, so George turned it all around. He went to Paul and they argued a bit until Paul finally realized that George was right. He was well known and I wasn't, which is why they switched the title, too.”
Good riddance.
He was indeed very talented. RIP.
Hate his politics, not the man. I enjoyed his movies.
I agree.
Yes, a lefty, but I loved Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and, later, The Sting. May he RIP.
Me too!
He was Brad Pitt before Brad Pitt was born.
I liked his acting. Not crazy about his politics.
89 is a good run. Rest in Peace.
Yes, he was. May he RIP.
He was a lefty but I don’t recall him being obnoxious about it or using his celebrity to castigate those who disagreed with him. I respect his, and anyone else’s, right to their views. It never interfered with my respect and enjoyment of his art.
Jeremiah Johnson, Butch and Sundance two of my favorites. Yes rest in peace Mr. Redford.
You’re no better than the people mocking Charlie Kirk’s demise.
Yes, he was a lefty. However, he put his money where his mouth was. So, he wasn’t a hypocrite at least.
He was also smart enough to NOT live in California. He had been in Utah for decades. Where he mostly stayed out of the limelight.
Other than Butch Cassidy and The Sting I thought “Three Days of the Condor” was maybe his best movie.
That was my feeling as well. Have respect for the dead, if you can’t say something nice and/or respectful, keep your mouth shut.
He once thought of running for the senate in Utah. He would have been tough to beat. Pretty boy factor.
JJ is one of my favorites. RIP.
If you have not seen it check out the lesser known The Spy Game.
Redford starred in it and imho it was in some ways superior to the excellent Three Days of the Condor.
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