ENTERTAINMENT NEWS - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men actor Robert Redford, who passed away at home this morning, will be remembered for his windswept blond hair, his trademark smile, and his immense contribution to independent filmmaking.
According to the Independent Filmmakers website, Redford was born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, to Charles Robert Redford, an accountant for Standard Oil, and Martha Redford.
“Charles Robert Redford Jr was a scrappy kid who stole hubcaps in high school and lost his college baseball scholarship at the University of Colorado because of drunkenness.
“However, as a high school student, he had displayed a certain aptitude as a caricaturist and this contributed to his decision to seriously study art.”
According to his biography on the website, Redford then enjoyed a year-long sojourn travelling around Europe, hitchhiking, living in youth hostels and generally living the painter’s life.
“Eventually, he came to realise that his work was unoriginal and not very good. He therefore returned to New York to pursue studies in theatrical design at the Pratt Institute of Art.”
He then enrolled in acting classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
By the end of 1960, he was on Broadway in a series of plays, including Barefoot in the Park, which launched him to fame.
TV and stage experience coupled with all-American good looks led to movies and a breakthrough role in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), when he was 33.
The Way We Were (1973) and The Sting (1973), both in 1973, made Redford number one at the box office for the next three years.
“Redford used his clout to advance environmental causes and his riches to acquire Utah property, which he transformed into a ranch and the Sundance ski resort.”
In 1980, he established the Sundance Institute for aspiring filmmakers. Its annual film festival has become one of the world’s most influential.
“Redford’s directorial debut, Ordinary People (1980), won him the Academy Award for Best Director in 1981. He waited eight years before getting behind the camera again, this time for the screen version of John Nichols’ acclaimed novel of the Southwest, The Milagro Beanfield War (1988). He scored with critics and fans in 1992 with the Brad Pitt film A River Runs Through It (1992), and again, in 1994, with Quiz Show (1994), which earned him yet another Best Director nomination.”
“Redford married Lola Van Wagenen on 9 August 1958. They divorced in 1985 after having four children, one of whom died of sudden infant death syndrome.”
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