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Redford’s career spanned over six decades, during which he became a Hollywood icon with an uncanny ability to find perfect scene partners. He starred alongside Paul Newman in the Western buddy adventure “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969) and the con-man caper “The Sting” (1973), earning a best actor Oscar nomination for his role in the latter. Other notable collaborations include the 1973 romantic drama “The Way We Were” with Barbra Streisand and the journalism thriller “All the President’s Men” (1976) with Dustin Hoffman.
Redford also achieved success off-screen, directing the family drama “Ordinary People” in 1981 and winning an Academy Award for Best Director. That same year, he founded the Sundance Institute to support independent directors, theater artists, and composers, leading to the creation of the popular Sundance Film Festival. This festival has provided platforms for many renowned filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Thomas Anderson, and others.
In a 2018 interview with USA TODAY, Redford reflected on his career, noting that he had reached an age where he was more philosophical about life’s mistakes and successes. “You get to be a certain age where you become more philosophical— that’s when you start to look back and go, ‘Boy, that was a mistake’ and ‘Well, that was OK,’ ” Redford said.
Redford is remembered as a versatile actor who used his starpower for meaningful causes and an influential director who shaped the landscape of independent filmmaking.
