Redford, Robert (redirected from Robert Redford)

Redford, Robert (Charles Robert Redford, Jr.), 1937–, American actor and director, b. Santa Monica, Calif. Blond, with a perennially boyish handsomeness and an appeal that has lasted several decades, he is one of Hollywood's superstars. He began his acting career in 1959, scoring his first big success in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Barefoot in the Park (1963) and moving toward stardom in its film version (1967). Teaming with Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973), Redford became a genuine star with his portrayal of lovably roguish, tough yet tender crooks.

Redford's other movies include The Candidate (1972), The Way We Were (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Great Gatsby (1974), All the President's Men (1976), The Natural (1984), Out of Africa (1985), Havana (1990), Sneakers (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993), and The Last Castle (2001). As a director, his films include Downhill Racer (1969); Ordinary People (1980), for which he won the Academy Award; The Milagro Beanfield War (1988); A River Runs through It (1993); and Quiz Show (1994). An activist in liberal and environmental causes, Redford also founded (1981) the Sundance Institute, which encourages young filmmakers, helps to finance new films, and showcases independent films in the annual Sundance Festival.

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Redford (Jr.), (Charles) Robert

(born Aug. 18, 1937, Santa Monica, Calif., U.S.) U.S. film actor and director. He made his Broadway debut in 1959 and won acclaim in Barefoot in the Park (1963; film, 1967). The blond, appealing Redford began acting in films in the mid-1960s. He appeared with Paul Newman in the hits Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973) and also starred in The Candidate (1972), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), All the President's Men (1976), The Natural (1984), Out of Africa (1985), and Indecent Proposal (1993). His directorial debut, Ordinary People (1980, Academy Award), was followed by The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992), Quiz Show (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998), and The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000). He received an honorary Academy Award in 2001. In 1980 he founded the Sundance Institute to sponsor young filmmakers' works, and by the 1990s its film festival was the major showcase for U.S. independent films.

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Redford, (Charles, Jr.) Robert (1937–  ) movie actor, director, producer; born in Santa Monica, Calif. He started out wanting to be a painter, studying art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, but turned to studying acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He had some small roles on television and the stage, with Barefoot in the Park (1963) being his only real Broadway success. Meanwhile, he had begun his movie career in War Hunt (1962). His All-American good looks at first threatened to typecast him as another matinee idol, but he began to use his status as a superstar to become a director of serious films such as Ordinary People (1980), which won him an Oscar as director. He also became a generous investor in new and untried moviemakers through his Sundance Festival, and was an outspoken supporter of liberal causes and environmental campaigns.