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| Robert Redford at the Day One Press Conference of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival Photo: © 2019 Sundance Institute/photo by Jemal Countess |
Screen star Robert Redford has died at the age of 89. Although originally known for his good looks, which brought him attention near the start of his film career in the likes of Barefoot In The Park and Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, he went on to be a formidable force in filmmaking and beyond, winning an Oscar for directing and founding the Sundance Film Festival which, arguably, led to the independent film and documentary-making landscape we see today. He was also a keen environmental activist, founding the Redford Center in 2005, which is “dedicated to environmental impact filmmaking” and has, to date, produced and supported 150 films and campaigns.
His publicist Cindi Berger said he died in his sleep "at Sundance in the mountains of Utah – the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved," and noted that “he will be greatly missed”.
Born in Santa Monica, California, in 1936, he grew up in the state. He made his Broadway debut in 1959 with Tall Story and went on to star in the original stage production of Neil Simon’s Barefoot In The Park, reprising the role onscreen in 1967 alongside Jane Fonda, in Gene Sacks’ Hollywood version.
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| Robert Redford at Karlovy Vary Film Festival Photo: Richard Mowe |
By then he had worked his way up through a smattering of TV roles to film, although he didn’t always get the critical acclaim he would go on to command, with Pauline Kael just one of several critics who was scathing about his version of The Great Gatsby (1974), noting he “couldn’t transcend his immaculate self-absorption”. That didn’t stop audiences flocking to see him, however, and the star struck box office pay dirt alongside Paul Newman in Western buddy romp Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid in 1969, with the gold dust pairing repeating the trick in 1973 with caper film The Sting.
Other notable roles in the Seventies, included spy flick Three Days Of The Condor and Watergate thriller All The President’s Men, based on the book by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, which the star, sensing a good story, had bought the rights to. He told an interviewer at the time “I'm interested in portraying what happened in the most accurate way."
The Eighties and Nineties brought more success, with a varied output of films, including romance epic Out Of Africa, baseball flick The Natural, erotic drama Indecent Proposal and gentle dramas such as The Horse Whisperer and A River Runs Through It – both of which he directed.
Redford had moved behind the camera in 1980 with Ordinary People, a debut that won four Oscars, including Best Film and Best Director. He went on to direct well into his seventies, with other notable films including Quiz Show and Lions For Lambs. He also continued to act, with late career roles in the likes of All Is Lost and The Old Man & The Gun.
His off-screen legacy mainly comes in the form of the Sundance Film Festival – and the trends in cinema that it subsequently inspired. He founded the Sundance Institute in 1981 with a mission of supporting emerging artists and, in 1984, took over the management of what had been the Utah Film Festival since 1978, and went on to rebrand it as the Sundance Festival in the state’s Park City. Recalling it on the opening night in 2005, he said the "mountains are dear to my heart and my end of the bargain was to deliver something not for my own purpose but for the State at large. When I said I wanted to put it in the middle of the State, in the middle of winter, they said that it would be difficult to get there. I said, 'Exactly'."
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| Robert Redford in Three Days Of The Condor Photo: Eureka Entertainment |
Although he was scathing about certain Hollywood attitudes, and the “ambush marketers” that dogged more recent editions of the festival, Redford was an optimist about film. As he put it at the opening press conference for the festival back in 2010, "art always finds a way". He certainly helped it to do that, through the Institute’s many artists’ programmes but also in the way the Sundance Film Festival changed down the years, helping documentarians to make their voices heard and rejuvenating an area of cinema that had, to that point, been largely confined to television. He was also a champion of indigenous filmmaking.
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| Robert Redford in The Old Man & The Gun Photo: Fox Searchlight |
The star was married twice, first to Lola Van Wagenen, with whom he had four children, Shauna, Amy, David James, who is known as Jamie, and Scott, who died from sudden infant death syndrome at just two-and-a-half months. After the pair divorced, Redford went on to marry German artist Bylle Szaggars-Redford in 1989, who survives him.
As the news of his death broke, tributes poured in. New York’s Film at Lincoln Center described him as “a true icon”, while actor Marlee Matlin, who starred in CODA which went on to win Oscars after premiering at Sundance, wrote: “Our film, CODA, came to the attention of everyone because of Sundance. Sundance happened because of Robert Redford. A genius has passed. RIP Robert.”
In a statement, the Sundance Institute said: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our founder and friend Robert Redford.
"Bob’s vision of a space and a platform for independent voices launched a movement that, over four decades later, has inspired generations of artists and redefined cinema in the US and around the world.
"Beyond his enormous contributions to culture at large, we will miss his generosity, clarity of purpose, curiosity, rebellious spirit, and his love for the creative process.
"We are humbled to be among the stewards of his remarkable legacy, which will continue to guide the Institute in perpetuity."
The Sundance Kid may have left us, but his legacy shines bright.
