Robert Redford Biography
Summary
"Robert Redford" (born August 18 1936) is an Academy Award-winning American motion picture director, actor, producer, businessman, model, environmentalist, and philanthropist.
Early life
Redford was born "Charles Robert Redford, Jr." in Santa Monica, California, the son of Martha W. (née Hart) and Charles Robert Redford, Sr., a milkman turned accountant. He has a half-brother, William, from his father's re-marriage. Redford is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He graduated from Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, California, in 1954 and received a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado, where he was a pitcher and a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. He lost the scholarship due to adolescent drinking, fueled in part by the death of his mother when Redford was 18. Redford was later a painting student at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and took classes in theatrical set design at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. He attended the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship but dropped out in 1957 to spend a year traveling and painting in Europe. Back in the United States, he studied theatrical design and acting in New York.
Career
Redford is known for his roles in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "Jeremiah Johnson", "All the President's Men", "The Sting", "The Natural", "The Way We Were", "Out of Africa", "The Great Gatsby", and many others. Redford directed the films "Ordinary People" (for which he won the Academy Award), "Quiz Show", "The Legend of Bagger Vance", "The Horse Whisperer", "The Milagro Beanfield War", and "A River Runs Through It". He was also a producer on all except "Ordinary People".
In 1980, Redford's directorial debut, "Ordinary People", won him the Academy Award for Directing; his 1994 film, "Quiz Show", was nominated for best director, but lost to "Forrest Gump." Along with Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Richard Attenborough, and Kevin Costner, Redford is one of the few major actors to win an Academy Award for "Best Director". Despite a number of critically acclaimed roles, he has never won an Academy Award for acting (the closest he came was a nomination for "The Sting"). His only Oscar came for directing "Ordinary People".
1950s-early 1960s
During this time, Redford appeared in numerous shows, including as a 'stooge' on the quiz show "Play Your Hunch". His other early appearances were as The Kid in the acclaimed stage and TV version of Eugene O'Neill's 'The Iceman Cometh' starring Jason Robards for which he received fine reviews, "The Twilight Zone", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (in 3 different episodes), "Maverick", "Naked City", "Route 66", "Dr. Kildare", "Playhouse 90" (in which he won critical praise; CBS, 1960), and "The Untouchables." He earned an Emmy nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "The Voice of Charlie Pont" (ABC, 1962). Redford's Broadway debut was in a small role in "Tall Story" (1959), followed by parts in "The Highest Tree" (1959) and "Sunday in New York" (1961). His biggest Broadway success was as the stuffy newlywed husband of Elizabeth Ashley in Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" (1963).
Mid 1960s-early 1970s
Redford made his screen debut in "War Hunt" (1962), co-starring with John Saxon in a film set during the last days of the Korean War. This film also marked the debuts of Sydney Pollack and Tom Skerritt. After his Broadway success, he was cast in larger feature roles in movies. He played a bisexual movie star who marries starlet Natalie Wood in "Inside Daisy Clover" (1965) and rejoined her for Pollack's "This Property Is Condemned" (1966)-again as her lover. The same year saw his first teaming with Jane Fonda (Arthur Penn's pallid "The Chase", in which he was a fugitive on the run). Fonda and Redford were paired to better effect in the big screen version of "Barefoot in the Park" (1967), and were again co-stars in Pollack's "The Electric Horseman" (1979).
Redford was increasingly concerned about his blond male starlet image and turned down roles in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "The Graduate", holding out for George Roy Hill's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) with Paul Newman. The film made him a bankable star and cemented his screen image as an intelligent, reliable, sometimes sardonic good guy. He became a huge matinee idol in the 1970s because of his blond pretty boy good looks (whether he liked it or not).
His next few films, while not artistic losses, were hardly hits at the box office. "Downhill Racer" (1969), for which he served as executive producer, was a look at the world of competitive skiing; "Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here" (1969), "Little Fauss and Big Halsey" (1970), "The Hot Rock" (1972) did little to augment Redford's stardom. The wilderness drama "Jeremiah Johnson" (1972) was a critical and box office hit and was reportedly one of Redford's favorite roles. His next real success came with the incisive political satire "The Candidate" (1972), which traded on his Golden Boy image to skewer Watergate-era Washington.
1970s
The year 1973 was a huge one for Redford, who starred in the high-profile "The Way We Were" and "The Sting". The former teamed him with a glowing Barbra Streisand in a romance that spanned the years; the latter rejoined him with Newman in a crime comedy. About the first film, Redford joked, 'nice Jewish girl gets nice blond WASP', and about the second, 'nice Jewish BOY gets nice blond WASP.' Already, Redford was known for bringing out the best in his co-stars-his frequent pairings with Newman, Wood and Fonda worked superbly, and actresses such as Streisand, Faye Dunaway, Meryl Streep and Michelle Pfeiffer were rarely so relaxed or sensual as when playing opposite him.
During the years 1974-76, exhibitors voted Redford Hollywood's top box office name-his hits included the glossy but impressive-looking "The Great Gatsby" (1974), "The Great Waldo Pepper" (1975) and "Three Days of the Condor" (1975). The popular and acclaimed "All the President's Men" (1976), directed by Alan J. Pakula and scripted once again by Goldman, was a landmark film for Redford. Not only was he the executive producer and co-star, but the film's serious subject matter, the Watergate scandal, also reflected the actor's offscreen concerns for political causes.
1980s - 2000s
In 1980, Redford's first outing as a director, "Ordinary People", a drama about the slow disintegration of an upper-middle class family, won him an Oscar. Redford managed to get a powerful dramatic performance out of America's Sweetheart, Mary Tyler Moore, as well as superb work from Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton. He also starred in "The Natural" (1984), based on characters and situations from Bernard Malamud's 1952 novel by the same name, "The Natural". The film won Redford new fans and further acclaim.
His second stint behind the camera would not be for another eight years with "The Milagro Beanfield War" (1988), a well-crafted-though not commercially successful screen version of John Nichols' acclaimed novel of the Southwest. Other directorial projects have included the successful period family drama "A River Runs Through It" (1992), based on Norman Maclean's novella, and the intelligent expose Quiz Show (1994), about the quiz show scandal of the late 1950's. Working from a screenplay by Paul Attanasio with noted cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and a strong cast that featured John Turturro, Rob Morrow and Ralph Fiennes. Redford's skill behind the camera earned him well-deserved praise. Redford handpicked Morrow for his part in the film (his only high profile feature film role to date), because he liked his work on Northern Exposure.
Besides his directing and producing duties, Redford continued acting as he entered middle age. He made a fine romantic lead opposite Meryl Streep in Sydney Pollack's Oscar-winning "Out of Africa" (1985). Although many critics complained that his portrayal of Isak Dinesen's lover was unrealistic, Redford's characterization was more substantial than the ghostly figure of Dinesen's book. After the box-office disaster of "Havana" (1990), he turned in amiable performances in the high-tech caper "Sneakers" (1992), the sexy drama "Indecent Proposal" (1993), with Demi Moore, and opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in the newsroom romance "Up Close & Personal" (1996). Continuing in the romantic vein, Redford directed and starred opposite Kristin Scott Thomas in a strong adaptation of Nicholas Evans' novel "The Horse Whisperer" (1998). Like his other directorial efforts, the film featured a strong cast in a drama that centered around a troubled family. His follow-up behind the camera, "The Legend of Bagger Vance" (2000), portrayed star Will Smith as a black caddy with mystical powers. Redford next returned to acting playing an aging CIA operative whose protégé goes rogue and is imprisoned in China in "Spy Game" (2001).
Honors
In 1995, Redford received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Bard College. In December of 2005, he received honors at the Kennedy Center for his contributions to American culture. The Honors recipients are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts: whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures or television. Currently, he is the narrator for the Cosmic Collision movie at the Denver Nature and Science Plantetarium.
Sundance
With the financial proceeds of his acting success, starting with his salaries from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "Downhill Racer", Redford bought a modest ski area just northeast of Provo, Utah called 'Timphaven,' which was renamed 'Sundance' (over his initial objections). Redford's wife Lola was from Utah and they had built a home in the area in 1963. Portions of the movie "Jeremiah Johnson" (1972), a film which is both one of Redford's favorites and one that has heavily influenced him, were shot near the ski area. He founded the Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute, Sundance Cinemas, Sundance Catalog, and the Sundance Channel, all in and around Park City, Utah, 30 miles (48 km) north of the Sundance ski area. The Sundance Film Festival caters to independent filmmakers in the United States and has received recognition from the industry as a place to open films. The name Sundance comes from his character, the "Sundance Kid". In addition, Redford owns a celebrated restaurant called Zoom, located on Main Street in the former mining town of Park City.
Independent films
Since founding the nonprofit Sundance Institute in Park City, Utah, in 1981, Redford has been deeply involved with independent film. Through its various workshop programs and popular film festival, Sundance has provided much-needed support for independent filmmakers. In 1995, Redford signed a deal with Showtime to start a 24-hour cable TV channel devoted to airing independent films-the Sundance Channel premiered on February 29, 1996. Meanwhile, Redford continued his involvement in mainstream Hollywood movies, though projects became fewer and farther between. He appeared as a disgraced Army general sent to prison in the political thriller, "The Last Castle" (2001), directed by fellow political junkie Rod Lurie. Redford, a leading environmental activist, narrated the IMAX documentary Sacred Planet (2001), a sweeping journey across the globe to some of its most exotic and endangered places. In "The Clearing" (2004), an under-appreciated thriller co-starring Helen Mirren, Redford was a successful businessman whose kidnapping unearths the secrets and inadequacies that led to his achieving the American Dream. Redford stepped back into producing with "The Motorcycle Diaries" (2004), a coming-of-age road film about a young medical student, Ernesto Guevera-who later became celebrated revolutionary Che Guevera-and his friend Alberto Granado. Five years in the making, Redford was credited by director Walter Salles for being instrumental in getting the film made and released. Back in front of the camera, Redford received good notices for his turn in director Lasse Hallstrom's "An Unfinished Life" (2005) as a cantankerous rancher who is forced to take in his estranged daughter-in-law (Jennifer Lopez)-whom he blames for his son's death-and the granddaughter he never knew he had when they flee an abusive relationship. Despite solid acting, the film, which sat on the shelf for many months while its distributor Miramax was restructured, was generally dismissed as clichéd and overly sentimental. Meanwhile, Redford returned to familiar territory when he signed on to direct and star in an update of "The Candidate".
Personal life
Redford currently resides in Sundance, Utah. He is politically liberal, and has supported environmentalism and Native American rights. Most of his federal political contributions have been to Democrats (61.0%) or special interest groups (34.6%) like the DGA-PAC, the Political Action Committee of the Directors Guild of America ($8,100). He did break ranks and contributed to two Republicans, Brent Cornell Morris in 1990 and Gary R. Herbert in 1994, both running for Utah's 3rd congressional district (both Morris and Herbert lost their congressional bids in the primaries).
Redford married Lola Van Wagenen on September 12, 1958. The couple had four children: Scott (born 1959 and died shortly after from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), Shauna (born November 15, 1960), David James (born May 15, 1962), and Amy (born October 22, 1970). They divorced in 1985. His companions since have included actress Sonia Braga (during 1988), Kathy O'Rear (from the late 1980s to 1995) and German painter Sibylle Szaggars (1996-current). Redford has four grandchildren.
His daughter Amy is set to direct her first feature film, an independent drama entitled "The Guitar". His other daughter Shauna is married to "Fast Food Nation" author Eric Schlosser, with whom she has two children.
External links
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Robert Redford.
