Robert Redford’s Most Iconic Roles That Made Him a Bonafide Movie Star
Robert Redford’s film career has been quite successful.
The actor began his career on Broadway in the late 1950s, and he later became close friends both on and off screen with Jane Fonda, with whom he had a brief role in the 1960 film Tall Story.
He became a successful leading man in the late 1960s and early 1970s, appearing in films such as Candidate (1972), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), and Barefoot in the Park (1967).
Over the course of his six-decade career, Redford has garnered numerous accolades and nominations, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1995, and an honorary Oscar in 2002. His charismatic good looks helped to solidify his status as a legitimate movie star. In addition, he was awarded an Oscar for Best Director for his work on Ordinary People (1980).
He appeared in several other noteworthy movies in recent years, such as Pete’s Dragon, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and The Old Man & the Gun, the latter of which was one of his last performances before he announced his acting retirement in 2018.
At the time, he said to Variety, “I can’t last forever.” “To be honest, I genuinely believe that it’s time for me to retire. Since I turned 21, I have been doing this. Over the years, I’ve given it all. That’s enough, I thought. Why don’t you give up while you’re somewhat ahead? Don’t hold off till the bell rings. Simply leave. I therefore believed that my moment had come, and this movie was the best thing I could think of to start my career on.”
Take a look back at some of his most noteworthy roles over the years in celebration of his 88th birthday.
One of the actor’s first prominent parts was in the film Barefoot in the Park, which starred Redford and Jane Fonda as a young married couple. He played the same part in Neil Simon’s play of the same name from 1963. The film earned positive reviews and was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for best adapted screenplay.
The movie not only launched Redford’s career, but it also marked the beginning of his enduring friendship with Fonda. When speaking with Fonda, Redford earlier told Today, “It’s easy.” We’ve done a number of films together over the years, so it just so happened that there wasn’t much conversation or stuff we needed to talk about. There wasn’t much more to consider as things between us just sort of fell into place.”
Redford plays a left-leaning attorney who ends up campaigning for a California senate seat in this political comedy-drama. Jeremy Larner, a speechwriter for Senator Eugene J. McCarthy during McCarthy’s 1968 Democratic presidential candidacy, won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the movie.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Larner disclosed that Redford contacted him regarding penning the screenplay. Larner stated, “Redford said, ‘We want to do a movie about a liberal politician who sells out,’ and I said, ‘Well, I think people get carried away more often than they sell out.'” A campaign truly encompasses more than just the candidate. There’s not enough time for you to consider what you’re saying. You’re going to go over the falls, but all you can do is keep navigating the boat. It’s like when you’re floating down a river and you hear the sound of the falls up ahead.
“I explained to Redford that it’s similar to being a movie star. “The character transcends the individual performing it,” Larner continued.
