Few actors have managed to blend rugged good looks with such intelligence and care in their choice of roles as Robert Redford. Over the course of five decades, he became one of Hollywood’s most respected stars — not just for his screen presence, but for the kind of thoughtful, risk-taking projects he championed.
Redford first caught audiences’ attention on television in the early 1960s, but it was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) that made him a star. Paired with Paul Newman, he played the Sundance Kid with a mix of charm, humor, and quiet toughness that helped make the film a classic.
He quickly followed with an extraordinary run of films that defined the next two decades. Downhill Racer (1969) showed him as a fiercely ambitious ski champion willing to risk everything for a win. Jeremiah Johnson (1972) offered a quieter, more introspective performance as a mountain man searching for solitude in the wilderness. The Candidate (1972) gave us one of the sharpest looks at American politics ever put on screen, and The Way We Were (1973) paired him with Barbra Streisand for one of Hollywood’s most enduring romances.
That same year, he reunited with Paul Newman for The Sting, a stylish caper that remains one of the most purely enjoyable movies ever made. He went on to star in Three Days of the Condor (1975), a taut spy thriller, and All the President’s Men (1976), where he played journalist Bob Woodward in the story of how Watergate unraveled.
Redford never stopped exploring. In Brubaker (1980), he played a prison warden trying to clean up a corrupt system. The Natural (1984) cast him as Roy Hobbs, the almost mythic baseball player whose bat seemed touched by destiny. Out of Africa (1985) paired him with Meryl Streep for a sweeping romantic epic, and Legal Eagles (1986) allowed him to show off his comedic timing in a breezy legal caper.
Even later in his career, Redford found compelling roles — the rugged father in A River Runs Through It (1992, which he also directed), the conflicted CIA veteran in Spy Game (2001), and the aging horse trainer in The Horse Whisperer (1998). And in All Is Lost (2013), he gave a nearly wordless performance as a lone sailor fighting for survival — a reminder that even in his later years, he was willing to take risks and rely purely on his craft.
Not content to simply act, Redford made an extraordinary directorial debut with Ordinary People (1980), a moving portrait of grief and family dynamics that won him the Academy Award for Best Director. He would go on to direct A River Runs Through It (1992), Quiz Show (1994), and The Horse Whisperer (1998), each one thoughtful and beautifully crafted.
Perhaps just as important is his legacy off-screen. Through the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, Redford championed independent filmmakers and helped launch the careers of many who might never have been discovered otherwise.
Remembering Robert Redford means remembering an era of thoughtful stardom — when actors chose roles that mattered and used their influence to shape the art of film. Whether you know him as the Sundance Kid, the con man in The Sting, the investigative reporter in All the President’s Men, or the nearly silent sailor in All Is Lost, Redford’s career remains one of the most versatile and inspiring in American cinema.
