In Praise Of Robert Redford

The C&I crew wants to send our warmest condolences to the family, friends, and many, many admirers of Robert Redford, the iconic movie actor, Oscar-winning director, respected humanitarian, environmental activist, and, through his Sundance Film Festival, invaluably influential supporter of independent cinema. He was 89 when he passed away Tuesday at his home in Sundance, Utah.

As is our custom, however, we prefer to celebrate lives rather than mourn deaths. And what an extraordinary life this Hollywood legend lived!

Consider: In 1969 alone, the year he solidified his status as a bona fide superstar, he demonstrated his prodigious range by playing lead roles in no fewer than three memorable films: Downhill Racer, which cast him as a selfishly cocksure Olympic skier who sees no need to ever be a team player; Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, in which he played Christopher “Coop” Cooper, a cynical deputy sheriff who has profoundly mixed emotions about leading the pursuit for a Paiute Indian ex-con (Robert Blake) accused of murder; and, of course, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the classic western that memorably teamed him and Paul Newman in a seriocomic account of two rollicking, wisecracking outlaws who can’t ride far or fast enough to escape their own obsolescence.

“Paul and I began a process of bonding during the first few days [of production],” Redford would later say of the match made in movie heaven. “We found a common bond of humor and values off the set that could be carried into the work on the set. It stripped away, almost immediately, the age difference of 13 or 14 years between us, and the professional notoriety difference between us — that was stripped away pretty quick. And it was Paul who did that. He just accepted that we were colleagues working together as actors. And that meant a lot to me. What developed between us — we never questioned it.”

Redford would reunite with Newman and director George Roy Hill four years later in The Sting, the slyly told tale of con men who cunningly cobble together an elaborate scam to wreak revenge on a notorious mob boss (Robert Shaw).

In between those box-office smashes, Redford  added another significant notch to his list of signature roles with his authoritative performance in the title role of Sydney Pollack’s Jeremiah Johnson, the rugged 1972 western inspired by the real-life exploits of a real-life mountain man, that many C&I readers (and, reportedly, Redford himself) embrace as an all-time favorite.

Fun fact: The movie has long enjoyed an amusing digital afterlife on the Internet, through a seemingly ubiquitous meme of Redford in character as Johnson nodding while offering an approving smile.

Other highlights of Redford’s movie résumé: Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970), an underrated drama about motorcycle racers in which Redford played, for one of the very few times in his career, a thoroughgoing bastard; The Candidate (1972), director Michael Ritchie’s still-timely political comedy-drama, about a naively idealistic Senate hopeful (Redford) who’s hardened by the campaign process; and All the President’s Men (1976), the potently intense drama about the roles Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) played in uncovering the Watergate scandal. (The latter film, it should be noted, is credited with inspiring generations of college students to become journalism majors.)

Also: The Electric Horseman (1979), in which Redford starred alongside Jane Fonda — and Willie Nelson! — as a maverick rodeo cowboy who goes to extremes while protecting a horse abused during production of cereal company commercials; The Natural (1984), the widely beloved baseball drama about a remarkably talented player (Redford) that ends with a triumphant scene known to make strong men weep; The Horse Whisperer (1998), which had Redford directing himself in the title role as a horse trainer who is drawn to the married mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) of a girl recovering from a tragic accident; and The Old Man & The Gun (2018), a fact-based drama about a charismatic bank robber and ingenious prison escape artist (Redford) who romances a sympathetic widow (Sissy Spacek) while obsessively pursued by a Dallas police detective played by Casey Affleck.

“You know,” Affleck told C&I in 2021, “whenever you work with someone that famous, people will always ask, ‘What was so and so like?’ And you always say something like, ‘Oh, he’s such a nice guy. Such a nice gal.’ But in his case, it’s really, really true about [Redford]. He’s just a gentle, beautiful, considerate, humble guy. I mean, sure, he’s more of a god than a human in movie terms. But, really, my takeaway was, ‘Boy, that’s just one of the nicest guys I ever met.’ And I wonder how you can stay that way and still have the career that he has had. I really mean it.”

Affleck paid a sneaky tribute to the superstar in their final scene together: Just as he was leaving the room, he stroked his nose with his finger — just like Redford and Paul Newman did while playing con men in The Sting.

 “Yeah,” Affleck said, “Newman and Redford made that little gesture to one another as a secret code of being in on something together. And I just think it’s so delightful. So, there I was in a scene with Redford, and in many ways, it was a kind of button on his career as being maybe the most lovable bank robber in the history of cinema. So how could I not do that? I tried to do it as subtly as I possibly could, but I needed to make some homage to his greatness, and in particular, his greatness in that movie.”

Redford was a dedicated champion of Native American rights — he served as narrator for Incident at Oglala, director Michael Apted’s acclaimed 1992 documentary about Leonard Peltier — and environmental causes. He served as an executive producer of the AMC series Dark Winds, and made one of his last on-screen appearances in the show’s Season 3 premiere episode during a wink-wink, nudge-nudge cameo scene opposite Zahn McClarnon and co-producer R.R. Martin.

But Redford’s most enduring legacy may be Sundance Film Festival, which currently operates annually in Park City, Utah.

“Decades ago,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox wrote on social media, “Robert Redford came to Utah and fell in love with this place. He cherished our landscapes and built a legacy that made Utah a home for storytelling and creativity. Through Sundance and his devotion to conservation, he shared Utah with the world. Today we honor his life, his vision, and his lasting contribution to our state.”

Director Allison Anders, who launched her career at the 1992 Sundance Festival with her film Gas Food Lodging, spoke for countless Sundance alumni when she posted her eloquent tribute to Redford online: “You could easily have just been the best looking guy to walk into any room and stopped there and lived off of that your whole life. But you wanted to create unforgettable characters, and you did. And you wanted to help writers and filmmakers like me who were shut out to create characters not seen before, and you did. You could have just been handsome. But you nurtured us. And the voices and the earth.

“You gave me a life of trusting my stories and because of your guidance, you taught me to other nurture voices too. All of those voices heard and supported will carry this on in your name and spirit. You always had time for us. You could have just been gorgeous and incredibly entertaining. But you realized that fame and fortune is a spiritual call of service. I’m deeply grateful that you understood that. Love you forever. Rest in the peace Mr. Redford that you gave all you had to give. And beyond.”

Actor-filmmaker Ethan Hawke echoed those sentiments when he praised “Robert Redford, our ultimate champion of independent film, relentless advocate for authentic storytelling and fiercely passionate environmentalist. Robert's legacy remains ingrained in our culture, transformed by his artistry, activism and the founding of Sundance Institute and Film Festival.”

A man may die, but his films remain forever in the present tense. And if he is fortunate, and generous, so does his legacy.