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Robert Redford Bio
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Robert Redford
Robert Redford, an iconic actor, director, and producer, was born on August 18, 1936 in Santa Monica, California. After graduating from Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, Redford was awarded a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado. He ended up dropping out in 1957 after losing his scholarship due to drunken behaviour, choosing instead to travel and persue his painting career in Europe, living in Paris and Florence. Upon his return to the states Robert started his acting career in New York City.
In 1958, Redford married Lola Van Wagenen. The couple had four children together. They became proud parents of Scott born in 1959 (died shortly after his birth), Shauna born in 1960, David James born in 1962, and Amy born in 1970. Redford and Wagenen divorced in 1985. Between them, their four children have given them four grandchildren.
Following his divorce with Lola, Redford has been linked with actress Sonia Braga in the 1980s, Kathy O’Rear from the late 1980s until 1995, and the painter Sibylle Szaggars from 1996 on. That was to be Redfords first and only marriage as he has never remarried.
When Redford was just beginning to break into the acting business he was written off by the screenwriter William Goldman, who once said of Redford, “just another California blond – throw a stick at Malibu, you’ll hit six of him.” Redford soon proved him wrong. In 1958 he made his television debut in Perry Mason which aired on CBS. The following year, Redford landed his first role in the Broadway play Tall Story.
Throughout the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s, Redford starred in several television shows. In 1962 he made his film debut in War Hunt co-starring Tom Skerritt and Sydney Pollack. He also landed his first starring role in the Broadway play, Barefoot in the Park (1963). The play was so successful that is was turned into a film that also starred Robert and co-starred Jane Fonda in 1967.
In order to avoid being typecast as the blond starlet, Redford began turning down roles in films like, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and The Graduate. Instead he began to look for roles that would give him more credit for his acting abilities instead of his pretty face. He chose to hold out for a starring role in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) alongside Paul Newman.
By the 1970s Redford had become a huge box office star who earned great respect from the industry for his ability to play such a wide variety of characters. He worked with many talented young actresses such as Natalie Wood, Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand, Faye Dunaway, Meryl Streep, Michelle Pfeiffer and of course his famous actor side-kick in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Paul Newman.
In 1980, Redford made his directorial debut in the film Ordinary People, which he also starred in alongside Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland, and Timothy Hutton. The film also won him four Academy Awards and an Oscar including Best Picture and Best Director.
Redford bought a ranch in Park City, Utah in 1961. In 1981, Redford founded the nonprofit Sundance Institute which he located at his ranch in Utah with the goal to provide support for independent filmmakers. This eventually led to Robert holding the Sundance Film Festival annually on the property. Redford then signed a deal with Showtime for a 24-hour cable TV channel that would air independent films, which was dubbed the Sundance Channel.
Redford continues to star in mainstream films today and has most recently completed the latest animated version of Charlotte’s Web (2006). He is also scheduled to star in a yet to be released untitled Jackie Robinson project.
Robert is a liberal and an environmentalist, advocating for and supporting natural causes. In 1983 he founded the Institute for Resource Management, which is an environmental organization. He has also worked to ensure the rights of Native Americans. |
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Robert Redford - appeared in "A River Runs Through It" with Brad Pitt |
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Robert Redford - appeared in "An Unfinished Life" with Jennifer Lopez |
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Robert Redford - Appeared with Robert Shaw in The Sting |
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Robert Redford - Appeared with Charles Durning in The Sting |
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Robert Redford - Appeared with Ray Walston in The Sting |
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Robert Redford - Appeared with Eileen Brennan in The Sting |
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Robert Redford - Appeared with Harold Gould in The Sting |
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Robert Redford - Appeared with John Heffernan in The Sting |
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Robert Redford - Appeared with Dana Elcar in The Sting |
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Robert Redford - Appeared with Jack Kehoe in The Sting |
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