REDFORD, ROBERT

born August 18, 1937, Santa Monica Calif., U.S. in full Charles Robert Redford, Jr. American motion picture actor and director known for his boyish good looks, his diversity of screen characterizations, his commitment to environmental causes, and his founding of the Sundance Institute and Film Festival. Redford's boyhood years were troubled, and he was dismissed from the University of Colorado the first year he attended. After years of drifting and studying art in both Europe and the United States, he enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and soon thereafter made his Broadway debut in the play Tall Story (1959). Landing roles in several television dramas of the early 1960s, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, and Route 66, he scored the biggest triumph of his early years with the lead role in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Barefoot in the Park (1963). Redford appeared in mostly forgettable films throughout the mid-1960s, with the cult favourite The Chase (1966) and the screen adaptation of Barefoot in the Park (1967) being notable exceptions. The turning point in his career came when he costarred with Paul Newman in the enormously popular comic western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969); the film became the top-grossing picture of the year, and Redford was soon one of Hollywood's most popular and bankable stars. Within the next few years, he appeared in such successful films as Downhill Racer (1969), Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969), The Candidate (1972), and Jeremiah Johnson (1972). He starred with Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were and reteamed with Newman in The Stingthe two most successful films of 1973and was ranked as the top American box office attraction. The Sting won that year's Oscar for best picture and earned Redford his only Oscar nomination for acting. Other films of the 1970s include The Great Gatsby (1974), The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), and Three Days of the Condor (1975), but they were overshadowed by All the President's Men (1976). An account of the downfall of the Nixon administration, the film starred Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. It garnered Oscar nominations in eight categories, and it was also Redford's first film as a producer. At that point, with his star status firmly established, Redford took periodic hiatuses from acting, and he appeared in only six films during the next 14 years. Of these, the best known is The Natural (1984), an adaptation of the Bernard Malamud novel about mythical baseball hero Roy Hobbs. Redford launched his directing career with the Oscar-winning Ordinary People (1980). The film won best picture, and Redford himself won an Oscar for best director. Of Redford's directorial efforts, The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) and The Horse Whisperer (1998) received lukewarm reviews, but Ordinary People, A River Runs Through It (1992), and Quiz Show (1994) are regarded as minor masterpieces. Redford's directing style is characterized by long, meditative takes and by an emotional detachment from subject matter that serves to heighten the irony of the narrative. His well-known concern for environmental causes is often reflected in the subject matter of the films he chooses to direct. In 2000 he directed The Legend of Bagger Vance. In 1980 Redford established the Sundance Institute, which provides a workshop for young filmmakers each summer and sponsors the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. By the 1990s the festival had become one of the leading international film festivals, and it is regarded as a vital showcase for new talent. Additional reading James Spada, The Films of Robert Redford, updated ed. (1984).