Robert redford

Charles Robert Redford Jr. (Santa Monica, California, August 18, 1936) is an American actor, environmentalist, and director. He has been the winner of the Oscar and Golden Globe awards. To his extensive and appreciated career, we must add his status as a sex symbol for several generations, a title he shared with his colleague and friend Paul Newman, with who shot blockbuster movies.

Biography

Rebel Youth

Her father was Charles Robert Redford Sr. (1914-1991), an Irish-Catholic accountant, and her mother was Martha Hart (1914-1955), a homemaker.

She grew up in the western suburbs of Los Angeles. In the 1950s, his father worked as a bookkeeper at Standard Oil and they moved to a middle-class suburb in the San Fernando Valley. His mother was diagnosed with cancer and Redford was going through a rebellious period at the time, but he liked to tell stories and draw. An excursion to Yosemite National Park gave him an intense love of nature, which would influence many of his films.

Bohemia in Europe and problems

In 1955 his mother died at the age of 41. He dropped out in 1956 and went as an itinerant artist to Italy and France to sample the bohemian life of an artist, returned disillusioned in 1957 and began a life of youthful rebellion mired in alcoholism, associated with the loss of his mother..

In that same year he met Lola van Wagenen, a wealthy middle-class university student, also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah, with whom he began a long and stable relationship that had an influence positive for Redford. He stopped drinking and in 1958 he enrolled at the Pratt Institute in New York to study art. He was interested in set design and took his advice to study acting to learn more about theater. He had never been attracted to acting work, but he liked the experience.

Wedding and first jobs

In 1958, he married Lola and the following year their son Scott was born, who died a few months later from a sudden death. In that same year one of his teachers got him his first role on Broadway. In 1960 he began working on television, in the series Playhouse 90 , and later in Perry Mason , Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone . As a result, his father even said to him: "Why don't you find a real job?" ^{[citation needed ]}

In 1960 Redford and his wife had a daughter, Shawna, and in 1962 again a son, David James. In those years they bought a farm plot in Utah, where they built a house designed by Redford himself. His daughter Amy was born in 1970. In 1961 she triumphed on Broadway with the play Sunday in New York .

Robert Redford and Patricia Blair in the television series The virginian (1964).

Film debut

In 1962, he landed his first role in a feature film, War Hunt, by Denis Sanders. Then she returned to acting on Broadway, in the play Barefoot in the Park , directed by Mike Nichols, who imposed the participation of Redford, whom she had seen on television. This play made him a star on Broadway and was the perfect springboard to Hollywood, where he was hired in 1964.

In his first four films he played supporting roles and they did not provide him with a noteworthy success. These films were The Rebel (starring Natalie Wood), The Human Pack (an ambitious denouncement film by Arthur Penn, with an extensive cast that includes Marlon Brando and Angie Dickinson), Desperate Situation, and Condemned Property.

Stardom in the movies

In 1966 he moved to Spain to begin a bohemian life, however, that same year he was offered a leading role in the film version of Barefoot in the Park (1967), alongside Jane Fonda, which was a great success.

In the following years he took part in several films that consolidated him as a prestigious actor and also as a Hollywood star; the first of these in 1969, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Paul Newman, with whom he hit it off quickly and they became one of the most important movie couples in movie history. Other successful films were: The Candidate (1972), two films directed by Sydney Pollack (now the cult film The Adventures of Jeremiah Johnson from 1972, and the romantic and box office hit The Way We Were in 1973, co-starring Barbra Streisand), and The Coup (1973), again with his friend Newman. This film won seven Oscars and for it Redford received his first nomination, as a leading actor. In 1974 he shot The Great Gatsby with Mia Farrow; a production with a very careful setting, but which received bad reviews.

Robert Redford in the movie The Great Waldo Pepper (1975).

Redford also created his own independent production company, Wildwood Enterprises, whose first film was Downhill Racer in 1969, directed by Michael Ritchie.

Katharine Ross and Robert Redford for televising Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here1971.

In 1976, he acted in All the President's Men, about the Watergate case, alongside Dustin Hoffman. The film earned six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. In 1979, she starred in The Electric Horseman with Jane Fonda, where once again Redford's love for horses appears.

He continued to be a commercially successful star in the 1980s, where two films stand out: Out of Africa, with Meryl Streep, a film that won seven Oscars, including Best Picture; and Dangerously Together (1986) with Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah. In 1985 he separated from his wife Lola after 27 years of marriage and that same year he began a 7-year long relationship with the Brazilian actress Sonia Braga.

Jobs as a director

As a director, Redford already has an important track record, with films that have earned him recognition from the profession and the public. In 1980 he began as a director with Ordinary People , a film starring Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore that received very good reviews and box office success, and which won him the Oscar for best director.

Redford directed in 1988 A Place Called a Miracle, a bucolic fantasy film that reflected his love of nature and rustic life, but it was not a significant success.

With Sônia Braga and Melanie Griffith, Cannes 1988.

In 1992 he directed El río de la vida, with Brad Pitt and Tom Skerritt, where he deals with communication between parents and children, a recurring theme in his life.

Later, he directed Quiz Show, which received good reviews, although it was poorly received at the box office, and which marked his second Oscar nomination as a director. This film was also nominated for the award for best film, but was ultimately defeated in both categories.

In 1998 he directed The Man Who Whispered to Horses, based on the novel by Nicholas Evans, in 2000 The Legend of Bagger Vance, and in 2012 The Company You Keep (Pact of Silence).

Sundance Film Festival

In 1980 Redford created an educational center for young filmmakers, the Sundance Institute, which functions as a Festival in the summers and as an exclusive ski resort in the winter, on its grounds in Utah. He carried out this company at his own expense despite not finding support. His institute subsidizes new promises with all expenses paid for four weeks, provides teachers, technical material and advice from great professionals.

Seeing the quality of the work, he decided to create a parallel film festival to exhibit the work of the students that today has become the most important independent film festival in the world: the Sundance Film Festival, which is held every Januarys since 1983 in Park City, Utah. It is curious because the name of the school and the festival comes from the film that he starred in 1969 with Paul Newman: Two men and one destiny , in which he was called The Sundance Kid . He later bought a ranch in Provo where he took to breeding thoroughbreds.

Latest works as an actor

Starting in the 1990s, Robert Redford gradually spaced out his work as a film actor, although he continued to participate in several prestigious productions by director and/or cast. Notable among them are the romantic films Havana (1990) by Sydney Pollack (with Lena Olin) and Intimate and Personal (1996) with Michelle Pfeiffer. But another film of more questionable quality and plot had more commercial repercussions: An Indecent Proposal (1993), with Demi Moore.

Later, he shot three major films The Last Castle (2001), Spy Game (2001) with Brad Pitt and The Shadow of a Kidnapping (2004) with Helen Mirren.

In 2005, he filmed with Jennifer Lopez A Life Ahead, and in 2007 he supported the then-criticized Tom Cruise playing a role in his production Lions for Lambs, alongside same Cruise and Meryl Streep.

In 2013, he shot the sole lead in When All Is Lost, a film about survival on the high seas directed by J.C. Chandor. Here Redford plays a yacht skipper who has to prevent the ship from sinking. It is a very demanding acting job, with no other characters than himself, which has received very good reviews and allows us to properly say that he is still very active in the cinema.

In 2014, he filmed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, playing high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Alexander Pierce; Said role was resumed in Avengers: Endgame, from 2019.

In 2015, he filmed A Walk in the Woods with Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson. In 2017, she starred in & # 34; Us in the Night & # 34; along with Jane Fonda.

Political, religious and ecological beliefs

For the 1976 presidential election, Redford groomed President Carter for the presidential debate, to great effect, as Carter won the debate and Ford made several mistakes. Jimmy Carter obtained in the election 50.1% against 48% for Ford.

Despite being married for 27 years to Lola van Wagenen, his first wife who is a Mormon convert, Redford declared an affinity with Buddhism.

In 1977 Redford wrote a book denouncing US westward expansion, The Outlaw Trail. He successfully fought against the construction of a power plant in Utah, which earned him numerous threats.

Personal Life

On July 11, 2009, he married his partner of years Sibylle Szaggars, a German painter. The ceremony took place in Hamburg in the privacy of family and closest friends.

On October 17, 2020, the death of his son James Redford was confirmed, confirmed by his wife.

Awards

In the United States, he received the National Medal of Arts in 1996 and in France the knighthood insignia of the Order of the Legion of Honor in 2010 for his civil merits.

In 2016, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the United States by Barack Obama, along with Michael Jordan, Tom Hanks, Robert de Niro, Diana Ross and Bruce Springsteen, among others.

Retirement announced

Redford announced to the media in August 2018 that he would act in a couple more films and that he would retire from acting at the age of 81, without indicating whether he would continue as a director. The last leading film of his was The Old man & amp; The Gun playing bank robber Forrest Tucker and joining the cast with Sissy Spacek and Cassey Affleck.

His surprise appearance in the film Avengers: Endgame would be his last appearance as an actor.

Complete filmography as an actor and director

Awards and distinctions

Oscar Awards

Golden Globes

Venice International Film Festival

César Awards

Awards

In 2010, French President Nicolás Sarkozy awarded him the Legion of Honor for his extensive and renowned career in the world of cinema.

In Spain, a citizen initiative requested that Robert Redford be awarded the 2016 Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts.