Robert Redford
Robert Redford (born
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. on
August 18,
1936[Birth date confirmed at the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. Date of birth for Charles Robert Redford is 18 August 1936.]) is an award-winning
American motion picture actor,
director,
producer,
businessman,
model,
environmentalist, and
philanthropist.
Early life
Redford was born in
Santa Monica, California to Charles Robert Redford, Sr., an accountant, and
Texas-born Martha W. Hart. He has a half-brother, William, from his father's re-marriage.
Redford 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 on the baseball team, 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 eighteen. 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.
Career
Redford is known for his roles in
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,
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,
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".
With the financial proceeds of his acting success, starting with his salary from
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and
Downhill Racer, Redford purchased the ski resort just outside of
Provo,
Utah called Timphaven (south of
Park City). He renamed it the Sundance Resort, and not long after, 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 in the area. He founded the
Sundance Film Festival,
Sundance Institute, Sundance Catalog, and the
Sundance Channel, all in and around Park City. The Sundance Film Festival caters to independent filmmakers in the United States and has received some recognition from the industry as a place to option 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.
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.
Personal life
Robert Redford is politically liberal, and has supported
environmentalism and
Native American rights.
Redford married Lola Van Wagenen on
September 12,
1958; the couple, who had four children - Scott (born
1959 and died shortly after), Shauna (born
November 15,
1960), David James (born
May 15,
1962), and Amy (born
October 22,
1970) - divorced in 1985. His companions since have included actress
Sonia Braga (during the late 1980s), Kathy O'Rear (from the late 1980s to 1995) and German painter Sibylle Szaggars (1996-current). Redford has four grandchildren.
Directing
Ordinary People (
1980)
The Milagro Beanfield War (
1988)
A River Runs Through It (
1992)
Quiz Show (
1994)
The Horse Whisperer (
1998)
The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
Footnotes
Web sites
*
the Sundance Institute*
Sundance Resort*
Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Robert Redford
