There’s a scene in the 1975 Sydney Pollack thrillerThree Days of the Condorthat highlights what made Robert Redford a legendary film star. Redford’s Joe Turner is an intellectual CIA analyst who steps out for lunch and comes back to discover that all his coworkers have been killed. He then goes into hiding, convincing a photographer named Kathy Hale (Faye Dunaway) to let him stay in her basement apartment as a refuge. Soon after, the doorbell rings. It’s a delivery person who says he has a package for her and she must sign for it.
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Kathy is taking a shower when the doorbell rings. Joe is in the kitchen. He and the delivery person exchange a glance through the front window of Kathy’s house. Joe informs the postman that Kathy isn’t home and tells him to place the package on the steps. When the delivery person says, “Well,”you“can sign,” Joe lowers his guard and steps outside. When the man’s inexpensive pen fails, Joe returns inside to get a different one. What saves Joe’s life is a quick backward glance that takes in the man from head to toe, ending on his shoes: tan suede with leather laces and racing stripes, clearly not the heavy boots that mailmen wore in the ’70s. As Redford moves from the background into a close-up, we see a chain of thoughts flash through his character’s mind, culminating in an expression of shocking realization. The film transitions from the assassin pulling a machine gun from his bag to Joe throwing a pot of hot coffee at him, sparking a chaotic confrontation that destroys the room. Although the scene happens at breakneck speed, Redford makes it understandable and credible. He guides us from “something is wrong” to “mailmen don’t wear shoes like that” to “I must kill him” in three seconds and four steps.
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Redford, who passed away yesterday at the age of 89 at his home in Provo, Utah, was a prominent figure across various domains. Besides his acting career, he established the Sundance Institute to support independent cinema and subsequently its namesake festival. His initial aim was to assist new filmmakers in avoiding the challenges and humiliations he experienced in the late 1960s while overseeing the skiing dramaDownhill Racer, his first project as both actor and producer, amidst the remnants of the old studio system. He produced and directed eight films, the best of which being his multiple-Oscar-winning directorial debut,Ordinary People, regarding repressed Wasps finding it difficult to mourn a family member’s death. Redford directed two other outstanding films about repressed individuals dealing with loss:A River Flows Through It(starring Brad Pitt in a tragic, golden-boy role that Redford would have dominated in the ’60s) andThe Horse Whisperer. He also created the ethical dramaQuiz Show, regarding the cheating scandal that shook NBC’sTwenty-Onein the 1950s while Redford was studying theater in New York. “The actor within me watched the performance and felt like I was observing other actors,”he informed the Los Angeles Times. It’s a movie centered on the concept that performance is an integral aspect of living.
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But only a portion. As a celebrity, Redford was the complete package: a passionate reader, a vocal political activist (primarily supporting Native American rights and environmental conservation), and a versatile athlete who skied, swam, sailed, rode horses, and played baseball, football, and tennis. He drew upon all these experiences as inspiration for his performances and as a guide when directing other actors. His broad range contributed to an artist whose striking appearance left him with no alternative but to rely on his looks.
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Redford’s restrained power and relaxed sophistication were captivating. You found this most radiant of golden boys believable as a heartfelt rancher (The Electric Rider, The Horse Whisperer), a world-class skierDownhill Racer), a vengeful hillbilly (Jeremiah Johnson), a veteran of war who became a renowned author (The Way We Were), a CIA office worker (Three Days of the Condor), a groundbreaking computer hacker with steadfast countercultural principles (Sneakers), a solitary sailor striving to endure a shipwreck (All Is Lost), a super-cool diamond thief (The Hot Rock), and a comic book boss (Captain America: The Winter Soldier).
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The screenwriter William Goldman, who wrote or played a role in five of the star’s films from the 1970s,theorizedthat Redford and his contemporary Clint Eastwood “were extremely talented [because] they didn’t achieve fame early. Eastwood was still working on swimming pools when he was 29.” Redford delivered several strong performances in the initial years of his movie career, but it wasButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, created when he was well into his 30s, that launched him into stardom. Crafted by Goldman and helmed by George Roy Hill, it set the standard for buddy films: a lively western featuring Paul Newman as the cynical, jaded Butch and Redford as the Kid, a talented but fiery gunfighter. This role became a defining moment in his career, portraying a subtle killer, almost like an antihero. In one particular scene, when the Kid is accused of cheating at poker, Hill lingers on Redford’s face in a tight shot for 60 seconds — an unusually long time for a Hollywood film, even back then — while Newman attempts to calm the situation. Except for a brief look at his opponent, Redford keeps his gaze fixed on the blurred holster in front, like a cobra ready to strike. Eventually, the Kid rises and heads toward the door. We assume Butch has convinced him to back down until he turns around, shoots the man’s gun from its holster, and sends it skidding across the saloon floor.
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1969 marked a significant year for Redford. In addition toButch Cassidy, he appeared in the early 20th century anti-western filmTell Them Willie Boy Has Arrived. It was the year he established himself as a performer and producer withDownhill Racer, combining director Michael Ritchie with screenwriter-novelist James Salter, journeying across Europe with the U.S. Olympic ski team, and performing most of the on-screen skiing himself. The outcome was mainly favored by art-film enthusiasts, yet it also demonstrated that Redford was both appealing enough to lead a film and dedicated to cinema.Butch CassidyHis success quickly turned him into a star capable of securing film funding simply by saying “yes.” However, it was not always easy to get a “yes” from Redford. He gained a reputation in the industry as a passive-aggressive idol who subjected directors and writers to years of rewrites and recasting before ultimately letting them go. Nevertheless, everyone wanted to collaborate with him because he understood the types of characters that audiences expected him to portray, and he managed to meet those expectations while adding unexpected elements to each performance. He began developing his on-screen image early, and it did not include the melancholic dreamers and downtrodden losers that many stars of the 1970s were drawn to. The 1970 picaresque comedyLittle Faust and Big Halseywould indicate the final time Redford portrayed a persistent troublemaker: a womanizing dirt-bike rider and small-time manipulator who is prohibited from racing due to drinking at the track. He participated in the film to resolve issues with Paramount, which had taken legal action against him for attempting to escape a three-film contract.
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Following that, Redford often portrayed characters who were obsessive, arrogant, unyielding, or simply difficult to connect with, but rarely someone who was genuinely incompetent. Redford had been following this path all along, even if he wasn’t fully aware of it yet. One of the most commonly told stories about Redford involves Mike Nichols interviewing him around 1966 to cast him in the lead role in The Graduate, a disappointed and down-and-out Ben Braddock, who has a relationship with Mrs. Robinson, the mother of his attractive young neighbor. After a few minutes with Redford, Nichols admitted he had difficulty imagining him as “a failure.” “I can portray a failure,” Redford insisted. Not convinced, Nichols said, “Alright, have you ever failed to get a girl?” Redford looked puzzled for a moment, then asked, “What do you mean?”
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Hill reunited with Redford and Newman for a crime story set during the Great Depression era.The Sting, which was the second-highest grossing movie of 1973 followingThe Exorcist, won seven Oscars, and got Redford his first and only Best Actor nomination as the quick-witted swindler Johnny Hooker. He didn’t win — but it was, as they say, a privilege to be nominated, particularly since his rivals included Al Pacino forSerpico, Marlon Brando for Last Tango in Paris, Jack Nicholson for The Last Detail, and the winner, Jack Lemmon inSave the Tiger.(Ironically, Lemmon was primarily a lighthearted comedian who hadn’t taken on a role this serious since 1962’s)Days of Wine and Roses, while Redford’s early romantic comedies led some critics to dub him the next Jack Lemmon.) InThe Sting,Redford’s sophisticated action-hero persona received a historical twist thanks to costume designer Edith Head, who dressed him in striking custom-made attire includinga plum-colored two-piece suit with red and ivory pinstripesand two-tone shoes that clicked loudly on the back-lot cobblestones, giving the film a musical vibe despite lacking the actual songs. Focusing on the long con as a complex performance featuring dialogue, stages, and practice sessions,The Stingis among the exceptional films that explore the concept of looking and being observed (a consistent theme in Redford’s body of work). It also demonstrated that the student fromButch Cassidyhad gone beyond the master: Newman’s portrayal of the alcoholic swindler Henry Gondorff was a minor supporting role, given to him because his career was struggling and Redford wanted to repay him for giving him his major opportunity. Timeless and always enjoyable to watch,The Stingmade Redford one of the most renowned celebrities globally.
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Lethal Redford was featured in 1972’sJeremiah Johnson, a film much more rugged than thememeit generated – a bearded Redford giving a nod of approval – would imply. It was directed by Pollack, Redford’s artistic collaborator on seven movies beginning withThis Property Is Condemnedand extending through the poorly conceived 1990sHavana, a riff on Casablanca with Redford in the Bogart role. Pollack and Redford’s run was unmatched by any other actor-director duo except maybe Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, whoseRaging Bull lost the 1980 Best Picture and Best Director Oscars toOrdinary People. (The latter is frequently described as a significant injustice, yet there were no lingering resentments. Scorsese has consistently praised Redford’s cinematic work, and Redford occasionally directed Scorsese to one of his finest screen performances as the politely threatening president of Geritol inQuiz Show.) Redford and Pollack appeared to share comparable personalities and values. Both transitioned into producing and directing from acting and possessed a stronger sense of composition than many other actors who moved across to the other side. (Redford, in particular, had a background in painting during his youth.)
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Pollack’s 1973 film The Way We Werewas a highly popular historical romance featuring Barbra Streisand as the fiery leftist Katie Morosky and Redford as the rigid conservative Hubbell Gardiner, their intense love affair torn apart by political differences. Here, as in many of Redford’s romantic films, the movie is largely centered on the female lead. Redford’s primary roles are to appear just as attractive as Streisand, to look at her with admiration, and to ensure his character remains sympathetic despite his McCarthyist views. Redford successfully manages all three aspects with his usual effortless style. The whole production is elevated by his talent for genuinely listening to his co-stars during scenes rather than simply waiting for his lines. Grand, often tragic love stories would become a hallmark of Redford’s career, continuing right through to one of his final performances in 2017’sOld Souls at Night.
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The actor’s most notable ’70s failure was the last instance where a Redford character was allowed to experience a major downfall: the 1975 high-flying adventureThe Great Waldo Pepper, a Redford-Goldman-Hill production where the actor portrayed a World War I veteran who became a daredevil and claims to be the world’s second-best pilot. Redford attributed the movie’s commercial and critical failure to a shocking sequence where Pepper persuades a potential wing walker (Susan Sarandon) to join him, only to witness her tragically fall to her death. Goldman publicly acknowledged that, despite its significance as a daring tonal change in the film’s middle, it alienated the audience expecting to see Redford succeed.Waldo Pepperwould mark his final collaboration with Hill and Goldman. The impact of its complete rejection by viewers echoed throughout the remainder of Redford’s career, causing him to hesitate in taking chances that might alienate the audience’s support again.
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His rebound, the 1976 Alan J. Pakula thrillerAll the President’s Men, was a classic in which Redford portrayed Washington PostReporter Bob Woodward opposite Dustin Hoffman’s Carl Bernstein. Redford purchased the film rights to the pair’s manuscript detailing their coverage of the Watergate scandal while it was still being written, and he shaped the final version by advising them to focus more on the detective elements and the men’s gruff yet respectful dynamic. The film would not have been made without Redford using his box office influence to secure funding for a story centered on men in suits discussing things over the phone as recent events unfold. Redford adds depth, tension, and subtle humor to those scenes. His portrayal of Woodward served as the guiding force that helped his team stay on track.
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Redford’s remarkable decade reached its peak in 1979 with the creation ofOrdinary People, the birth of Sundance, and his second collaboration with Jane Fonda,The Electric Horseman, another Redford-Pollack collaboration. Redford portrayed a rodeo cowboy who transitions into a cereal salesman and flees with an abused horse. During the 1980s, Redford shifted his focus towards acting and filmmaking, placing them on the back burner in favor of his prominent activism for Native Americans and environmental conservation, as well as his role at Sundance. In his later years, Redford confided in friends that he had made a dozen films in the 1970s but only a few in the 1980s. He mentioned to film historian Peter Biskind that he worried his celebrity status was overshadowing Sundance itself and had become “a distorting force, a liability.” He also recognized that he wasn’t getting any younger and there were still “things I want to do and films I want to make… It was never my intention to leave my career behind and run Sundance.” His limited number of 1980s films included several major successes, notably the multiple-Oscar-winning Pollack film.Out of AfricaA drama set in 1913 Kenya, featuring Meryl Streep. The film received seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and performed well at the box office even with a slow pace and a three-hour duration.
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Out of Africaalso (rightfully) received Redford the worst reviews of his career. Even if he could have managed the accent, the role did not suit the sharp mind that Redford exuded. Middle age proved to be a challenging phase where Redford took on too many roles that relied on his fame to cover up other issues and that seemed hesitant to make him vulnerable or highlight the truths of aging. That’s why the 1984 baseball filmThe Naturalis heart-wrenching and relatable when Redford’s aging comeback player, Roy Hobbs, engages in everyday conversations but becomes awkward when it places then-47-year-old Redford in soft lighting and discards the bitterly bleak ending of Bernard Malamud’s novel so that Roy can hit a pennant-winning home run and have a positive conclusion. The more grand and abstract the character, the less fitting Redford’s casting appeared to be. The lowest point might have beenIndecent Proposal, in which he portrayed a mysterious businessman who offers Demi Moore a million dollars to sleep with her, tormenting her husband (Woody Harrelson) and irately continuing to interfere with their lives afterwards. A portion of the issue lies in the content—sleaze presented as a philosophical question—but another factor is Redford’s image. It was challenging to reconcile an actor known for playing principled characters with such a distasteful role.
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He discovered a new focal point in the ’90s, a time when his finest performance was his most atypical. In writer-director Phil Alden Robinson’sSneakers, he portrayed another iconic figure, though thankfully one more grounded in reality: cybersecurity expert Martin Bishop, a computer-savvy James Bond. A heist filled with high-tech elements,SneakersLet Redford engage in a lively exchange of sharp dialogue with a strong cast featuring Sidney Poitier, Ben Kingsley, and River Phoenix (in one of his last movies). It also generated humor by placing Redford in a part where he could perform bold and intelligent actions but struggled to convey simple emotions and faced even greater challenges under stress. A standout scene features Martin in a deceptive scenario where he has to repeat information received through an earpiece. This is a nod to Cyrano de Bergerac that allows the star to be self-mocking and showcase a new talent for nervous stammering. Even better is a crowd-pleasing moment towards the end when Martin catches a villain who has repeatedly tried to kill him. He pauses as if realizing this is the moment a cool movie hero would deliver a witty remark, but he can’t think of anything so he groans in frustration and hits the man with the end of his gun.
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Regrettably, a significant number of Redford’s later performances appeared to rely on his well-crafted persona as the exceptionally capable, good-looking man of integrity, includingThe Last Castle, which portrayed him as a military prisoner depicted as a blend of Rambo,The Fountainhead‘s Howard Roark, and a missing Kennedy brother. There’s a scene where the warden (James Gandolfini) attempts to break Redford’s character by making him carry heavy stones across a courtyard, but he withstands the challenge and is met with the other prisoners’ approval. The moment appears largely to demonstrate that, at 64, Redford was still in excellent physical shape. The Tony Scott spy thrillerSpy Gamereassigned him with Brad Pitt — one of many younger actors who had been labeled “the next Redford” — but confined him to a standard techno-thriller mentor role and failed to utilize Redford’s talent for conveying the bittersweet insight of a seasoned tough guy.
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He showcased that character with great flair alongside Sissy Spacek in 2018’sThe Elder Man & the Gunas a refined outlaw, and even more so inAll Is Lost, a low-budget disaster film by J.C. Chandor. It features only one character, Redford’s nameless sailor, who finds his damaged yacht sinking in a storm, leaving him stranded on a raft in the ocean. It’s a survival tale similar toJeremiah Johnson,and it’s one of Redford’s finest roles and most profound performances; with only 51 lines of dialogue, the film allows the star to showcase physical feats that most younger men could only imagine and relies on him to convey every hint of fear, resolve, and remorse through his face and body alone. More than any of his subsequent works,All Is Lost channels his physical abilities into an existential narrative exploring the idea that the struggle itself is the essence of life’s journey, which ends the same for everyone. Ina 2013 New York Times interview, Redford captured the straightforward reason behind this character’s motivation, which could be seen as a summary of his own life’s work: “You just keep going. Because that’s all you can do.”
