Robert Redford Biography

Santa Monica, California native Robert Redford once said that, "All my life I've been dogged by guilt because I feel there is a difference between the way I look and the way I feel inside. We are a country that is obsessed with the cosmetics of our lives, how we look."

The way he always looked was incredibly handsome and it no doubt led to his early screen casting. But he proved himself more than just a pretty face with his excellent performances in front of the camera, his subtle touch behind the camera, and his founding of the Sundance Film Institute for budding filmmakers which led to the Sundance Film Festival which has become one of the world's leading showcase venues for independent films.

Not bad for a guy who didn't even think about being an actor until he was in his twenties. His first love was baseball and he even won a baseball scholarship to the University of Colarado but dropped out to move to Europe and chase his dream of being a painter. He returned to New York in the late '50s to study art at the Pratt Institute and at the same time began studying acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

It was his role alongside Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid that turned Redford into a star of huge proportions. But, he once said, "They throw that word 'star' at you loosely, and they take it away equally loosely. You take the responsibility for their crappy movie, that's what that means."

He reteamed with Newman in The Sting (1973), and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In 1980, Redford made his feature film directorial debut with Ordinary People, and won his first Oscar for Best Director.

In 1981, he founded the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, transforming the landscape of American independent film and giving countless emerging filmmakers their start. A passionate advocate for environmental causes, Redford used his platform to champion conservation and sustainability, strengthening his legacy not only as an artist but as a humanitarian.

He also was nominated for Best Director for Quiz Show (1994), and was given an Honorary Oscar statuette in 2002 for being an "Actor, director, producer, creator of Sundance, and an inspiration to independent and innovative filmmakers everywhere."

In addition to winning six Golden Globes, he was awarded the prestigious Cecile B. DeMille Award in 1994.

In his later years, he played a supporting role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and in the Disney remake Pete's Dragon (2016), directed by David Lowery. Redford apparently agreed to the role in the Disney feature on the basis that in return, Lowery would direct him in the movie The Old Man & the Gun (2018), based on the true story of a man who escaped San Quentin and went on to rob several more banks. Redford received yet another Golden Globe nomination for his work in the film.

For the long-awaited feature film Avengers: Endgame (2019), which went on to earn close to US $2.8 billion at the worldwide box office, Redford reprised his role as Alexander Pierce.

Redford married Lola Van Wagenen in 1958. They had four children together but their eldest, Scott, died of sudden infant death syndrome at the age of two and a half months. Their other son, David, died in 2020 of cancer. Redford and Lola divorced in 1985 after 27 years of marriage. In 2009 he married his second wife, Sibylle Szaggars. He's also survived by his daughters, Shauna and Amy.

Filmography (actor):

Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia (2020) (voice)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Buttons, A New Musical Film (2018) (narrator)
Old Man and the Gun (2018)
Our Souls at Night (2017)
The Discovery (2017)
Pete's Dragon (2016)
Truth (2015)
A Walk in the Woods (2015)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
All is Lost (2013)
Casting By (2013)
The Company You Keep (2013)
Buck (2011)
Lions for Lambs (2007)
Charlotte's Web (2006) (voice)
An Unfinished Life (2005)
The Clearing (2004)
Spy Game (2001)
The Last Castle (2001)
The Horse Whisperer (1998)
Indecent Proposal (1993)
Up Close and Personal (1996)
Sneakers (1992)
Incident at Oglala (1992) (narrator)
A River Runs Through It (1992) (narrator)
Havana (1990)
Legal Eagles (1986)
Out of Africa (1985)
The Natural (1984)
Brubaker (1980)
The Electric Horseman (1979)
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
All the President's Men (1976)
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)
The Great Gatsby (1974)
The Sting (1973)
The Way We Were (1973)
The Candidate (1972)
The Hot Rock (1972)
Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Downhill Racer (1969)
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969)
Barefoot in the Park (1967)
The Chase (1966)
This Property Is Condemned (1966)
Inside Daisy Clover (1965)
Situation Hopeless - But Not Serious (1965)
War Hunt (1962)

Filmography (director):

Cathedrals of Culture (2014) (segment: "The Salk Institute")
The Company You Keep (2012)
The Conspirator (2010)
Lions for Lambs (2007)
The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
The Horse Whisperer (1998)
Quiz Show (1994)
A River Runs Through It (1992)
The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
Ordinary People (1980)