The famous actor, director and producer's film credits included his film debut as director of the drama Ordinary People. The biography of Robert Redford is an example of how a talented man from a simple family was able to achieve success and become a world celebrity.
Already in the status of a Hollywood star, he founded the independent film institute Sundance and the film festival of the same name, which launched the careers of many now famous directors.
Childhood and youth
The famous actor was born on August 18, 1936 in Santa Monica, California, in the family of a milk delivery man and a housewife who passed away when Robert was 19 years old. His father was subsequently hired for an accounting position at one of the American oil companies.
Curiosity was always inherent in Redford, but the child's behavior often upset his parents. To distract her son from street company, Robert's mother sent him to painting school. The guy's main sports hobbies were tennis and baseball.
Robert Redford in childhood and youth
In his youth, he dreamed of becoming a stuntman. A fifteen-year-old young man offered his own, but her bosses did not want to get involved with an underage teenager. The young man began to improve his stunt skills:
- he climbed onto the walls of high-rise buildings;
- jumped from a great height;
- participated in auto racing.
Robert Redford's adult biography began in the first half of the 50s, when he entered the University of Colorado, located in Boulder. The athletic guy was on the university baseball team, but because of constant drinking with friends, he was kicked out of the school.
Robert Redford in his youth
Redford settled in New York, where he became a student at a local college and studied stage design. After graduating, Robert decided to get acquainted with Europe, where he traveled for some time. Returning to America, the young man entered New York's Pratt Institute, where he studied to become a decorative artist.
Robert Redford was interested in theater in his youth. The Academy of Dramatic Art, which he began to attend, taught him the basics of acting. The stage biography of the aspiring artist started on Broadway in the late 50s.
Biography
Born in Santa Monica, California, USA. His father was a milk delivery man before he got a job as an accountant in an oil company. Graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder (1955). Member of the university baseball team. A versatile athlete who has maintained good physical shape for a long time. For example, in the action-packed prison action film The Last Castle
, 2001) in a key episode, he carried heavy stones, naked to the waist. In 2004, in the criminal episodes (falling from a mountain, wrestling in the mud and chasing in a rainstorm) of the socio-psychological drama directed by Peter Jan Brugge, The Clearing, he was again filmed without stuntmen.
In 1958, he married a Mormon student, Lola Jean Van Wagenen.
) from Utah.
The wife made efforts to discourage the young husband from drinking alcohol and force him to abandon his immoral, from her point of view, career as a painter. After dropping out of college, the newlyweds moved to New York, but even there Redford continued his painting studies, becoming a student at the Pratt Institute
. Since 1959, he has been involved in theatrical productions on Broadway and in various entertainment television shows. The first serious film work was the film about the Korean War, “Battlefield Hunt” (1962), where R. Redford played a recruit soldier who ended up at an outpost located on the 38th parallel. This was followed by the roles of seductive heartthrobs, flamboyant journalists, and famous bandits. He was nominated several times for an Oscar as “Best Drama Actor”, but never received the award.
Not limiting himself to acting, Robert Redford tried himself as a film director. In 1981, he founded the Sundance American Independent Film Institute, which has held the Sundance International Film Festival in Park City, Utah, since January 1985.
R. Redford received his first Oscar in the category “Best Director” in the same 1981 for the psychological drama “Ordinary People”. In 2002, he was awarded an honorary Oscar in recognition of his numerous acting works, which were well remembered by the audience.
Personal life
At the age of 23, Robert Redford married his university classmate Lola van Wagenen, with whom the actor had four children: Scott Anthony (died two months after birth in 1959), artist Shauna Jean (born in 1960), film producer David James ( 1962), actress and director Amy Hart (1970). Redford has three grandchildren and two granddaughters: Dylan and Lena (with his son James), Mika and Conor (with his daughter Shauna) and Eden (with his daughter Amy). Redford and Wagenen divorced in 1985. After the divorce, the actor remained one of the largest landowners in Utah, owning at least 5.5 thousand acres of real estate, now known as the Sundance Resort.
In July 2009, in Hamburg, Germany, Redford was legally married to his assistant and secretary Sibylla Szagarrs (for a long time they lived in a de facto marriage)
[1].
The beginning of a film career
In 1960, Robert played a basketball player in the comedy film “The Big Story.” This was the first film with the participation of the future movie star. At first, the inexperienced actor starred in episodic roles in films and on television. In his youth, he appeared in several little-known films that no one will remember now.
Robert Redford in his youth
He was offered his first serious role in 1962 in “Battlefield Hunt,” where he played the role of Private Roy Loomis, who was sent to fight in Korea.
Young Redford's acting background included bandits, journalists and seductive heartthrobs.
Robert's first success came in 1966 after the premiere of The Chase. In this drama, he played Charlie "Bubber" Reeves.
Robert Redford in the movie "The Chase"
But Redford became famous thanks to his participation in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” In Hollywood's highest-grossing western, he became a noble bandit who, along with his friend played by Paul Newman, robs banks and freight trains.
Redford's talented performance was awarded by the British Film Academy.
In 1972, the Hollywood star had his own film company, which financed the filming of “All the President’s Men” and “The Candidate.”
Robert Redford in the movie "The Candidate"
These films about American politics were popular with audiences and brought a good income to their investors.
Career rise
The western “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” released in 1969, gave the charming artist the desired popularity among viewers. The audience's memory of the charming character presented by Redford as a "noble criminal". The picture, which tells about the adventures of two heroes of the Wild West, who actually lived at that time, earning money by robbing trains and banks, is becoming a cult classic. Robert Redford's filmography is finally getting a film that makes him a star.
The actor, endowed with a charming smile and an athlete's figure, seems to be an ideal performer of roles in romantic films and westerns. However, fixation on one image or another is something that Robert Redford stubbornly avoids. The best films with a star are those where he surprises the audience with unexpected personalities of his own characters. An example is the movie “The Candidate,” which was released in 1972. The actor's hero is a young lawyer confidently building a political career.
In the same year, the film “Jeremiah Johnson” with his participation was released. Redford's character practices unity with nature, railing against the disadvantages of living in the "civilized world."
Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand
In 1973, the premiere of “A Meeting of Two Hearts” by Sydney Pollack took place. The main characters of the melodrama were played by Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand. Their heroes with different characters fell in love. The actor got the role of a successful writer, handsome man and everyone's favorite Hubbell Gairdnir, and his partner on the set turned into an assertive political activist Katie. The acting was so sincere that many viewers thought that they were developing a real romance, but Robert and Barbara are simply talented actors who professionally coped with the task set before them by the director.
Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand in the film "A Meeting of Two Hearts"
Among Redford's roles in the 70s, we should highlight the main character of The Sting (the first Oscar nomination in the actor's career), Jay from The Great Gatsby and Joseph Turner from Three Days of the Condor.
Robert Redford in his youth
In his youth, Redford managed to be both a bohemian artist and an assertive athlete (funny: this was later reflected in all of Redford’s roles). Like all talented artists in any era, Redford skillfully draws on a wealth of personal experience and manages to involve the entire range of his own experiences in the embodiment of the screen image. Here's what he says about starring in the film A River Runs Through It (1992): “Reading has always been an outlet for me, so Norman, the teacher and writer, is very close to me. But I’m also an athlete, I have a wild, elemental side. And in this I'm exactly the opposite of Norman, Paul. There was a time when I, like him, went to great lengths and almost killed myself.” True, although Redford survived the war, he was not very successful in the roles of typical hardened warriors (for example, Hubbell Gardner in “A Meeting of Two Hearts” in 1973): probably because he was too good-looking for them.
Robert Redford in his youth
Director, Sundance creator and stuntman
In 1980, the famous actor made his own directorial debut. For Ordinary People, Redford received his first Oscar as a film director.
In 1981, Robert became the founder of the Sundance Independent Film Institute and the auteur film festival of the same name.
He gave a “start in life” to many famous directors, for example, Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino.
Sundance Film Festival
In 1992, Redford directed his third film, A River Runs Through It. Critics and audiences appreciated this work of the movie star.
In 1996, the actor played alongside Michelle Pfeiffer in the romantic drama Close to the Heart. Two years later, The Horse Whisperer premiered, Redford’s next directorial project, which became a Golden Globe nominee, like his previous film.
A versatile athlete, Robert remained in good shape for quite a long time.
In 2001, while filming The Last Castle, he had to carry heavy objects in the nude. The actor's fee in this thriller was eleven million dollars.
Robert Redford in The Last Castle
Three years later, in Reckoning, he got chased during a rainstorm, got into mud in a fight, and fell off a cliff. Redford performed all the stunts himself, without resorting to the services of a stuntman.
After breakfast at a hacienda in California, I can drive 730 miles to Salt Lake City to get to dinner. Speed 120 mph. I cannot live without movement, otherwise I start to get terribly nervous.
Among Redford's roles in the 2000s, it is worth noting Nathan Muir from Spy Games and Einar Gilkinson from An Unfinished Life.
In 2002, the actor won an honorary Oscar for his great contribution to world cinema.
Robert Redford
Ten years later, he played Jim Grant in Foul Play, and in 2014 he joined Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Evans in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Stars
Filmography : Actor
- Lions for Lambs (2007) / Lions for Lambs /
- An Unfinished Life (2004)
- Clearing (Cleansing) (2004) /The Clearing/
- Spy Games (2001) /Spy Game/
- The Last Castle (2001) / The Last Castle /
- The Horse whisperer (1998)
- Close to the Heart (1996) /Up close & Personal/
- Indecent proposal (1993) /Indecent proposal/
- Sneakers (1992)
- Havana (1990) /Havana/
- Legal Eagles (1986)
- Out of Africa (1985)
- Natural Gift (1984) / The Natural /
- Natural Man (1984) /Natural/
- Brubaker (1980) /Brubaker/
- The Electric Horseman (1979)
- A Bridge Too Far (1977) / A Bridge Too Far /
- All the President's Men (1976) /All the president▓s men/
- The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) / The Great Waldo Pepper /
- Three days of the Condor (1975)
- The Great Gatsby (1974) / The Great Gatsby /
- The Scam (1973) /The Sting/
- Meeting of Two Hearts (1973) /The Way We Were/
- The Candidate (1972) /The Candidate/
- Stolen Stone (1972) /The Hot rock/
- Jeremiah Johnson (1972) / Jeremiah Johnson /
- Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970) / Little Fauss and Big Halsy /
- Downhill Racer (1969)
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
- Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969)
- Barefoot in the park (1967)
- For scrap (1966) /This Property Is Condemned/
- The Chase (1965) /The Chase/
- The Inner World of Daisy Clover (1965) /Inside Daisy Clover/
- Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious (1965)
- War Hunt (1962) /War Hunt/
- The Iceman Cometh (1960) /The Iceman Cometh/
- Big Story (1960) / Tall Story /
Filmography : Producer
- Lions for Lambs (2007) / Lions for Lambs /
- A Thief in Time (2004) /A Thief of Time/
- The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) /Diarios de motocicleta/
- Coyote Waits (2003)
- Werewolves (2002) /Skinwalkers/
- The Right People (2002) /People I Know/
- Love in the Time of Money (2002) /Love In the Time of Money/
- The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
- How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2000)
- The Horse whisperer (1998)
- Slums of Beverly Hills (1998) / Slums of Beverly Hills /
- Civil action (1998) /A Civil action/
- No Looking Back (1998)
- She's the only one (1996) /She▓s the one/
- Grand Avenue (1996) /Grand Avenue/
- Quiz show (1994) /Quiz show/
- A River runs through it (1992)
- Incident at Oglala (1992)
- The Dark Wind (1991) /The Dark wind/
- Some Girls (Sisters) (1988) / Some Girls (Sisters) /
- The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
- Distant Dreams (1988) /Promised Land/
- The Solar Film (1980)
Filmography : Director
- Lions for Lambs (2007) / Lions for Lambs /
- The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
- The Horse whisperer (1998)
- Quiz show (1994) /Quiz show/
- A River runs through it (1992)
- The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
- Ordinary people (1980) /Ordinary people/
Prizes and awards
OSCAR
2002 - Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Winner in categories: Best Director 1981 - Ordinary people / Ordinary people /
Nominated in the following categories: Best Actor 1974 - The Sting / Best Director 1995 - Quiz show /
GOLDEN GLOBE
1994 - Cecil B. DeMille Award for contributions to cinema
Winner in categories: Best director 1981 - Ordinary people / Most promising actor 1966 - The inner world of Daisy Clover / Inside Daisy Clover /
Nominated in the following categories: Best Director 1999 - The Horse Whisperer 1995 - Quiz show 1993 - A River runs through it
Hollywood sex symbol
In the 70-80s, the actor had the status of a sex symbol at the Star Factory. He starred in films with charming colleagues Demi Moore, Mia Farrow, Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda and Meryl Streep, but Robert Redford's personal life took place outside of Hollywood, although popular rumor attributed to him affairs with beautiful actresses.
Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford
When he was still a schoolboy, he was popular with girls, which his male classmates really did not like.
As a child, I was called “straw head” because of my blond hair. I can’t understand how I was considered a sex symbol! At first I was flattered. But over time it started to get in the way. It was even annoying. I wanted my performance to be appreciated.
He later admitted that he never used his attractiveness to get a new role or start relationships with women. Redford even tried to hide his own natural beauty.
Robert Redford's wives and children
Robert's first marriage was to Lola van Wagenen, with whom he studied at university. This happened in 1959.
The actor's wife was a Mormon. She wanted to convert her husband. Lola forbade him to draw and drink alcohol.
When the young family settled in New York, Redford went to study as an artist, played on the Broadway stage and starred in a television show.
Robert Redford with his wife Lola van Wagenen
The wife gave birth to four children for Robert, but their first son, Scott Anthony, lived only two months, which became the cause of the actor’s prolonged depression. He started drinking and rowdy again.
Once, in the territory of a Los Angeles park, I staged a pogrom, for which I was put behind bars for two days.
After the birth of other children, Robert Redford calmed down. The eldest Shauna, like her father, was interested in drawing. The producing career of the middle son David James in cinema is developing successfully, and the youngest Amy wanted to follow in the acting and directing footsteps of her famous parent. They all had children of their own. Grandfather sometimes spends time with his grandchildren Eden (Amy's daughter), Conor and Micah (Shauna gave birth to them), Lena and Dylan, whom James raised.
Robert Redford with his family
In 1985, Lola and Robert divorced. Redford still owns property in Utah, located on 5.5 thousand acres of land. Today it's the Sundance Resort.
They say that the reason for the couple’s separation was the young actress Sonia Braga, whom the cinema owner cast in his film.
Robert Redford's personal life changed dramatically in 2009 when he married artist Sybille Saggars. Before this, they lived together for quite a long time.
Robert Redford with his wife Sybil Saggars
The actor never called his personal life stormy.
I've always been a lone wolf.
In adulthood, Redford continues to maintain good physical shape.
I love surfing, rafting and kayaking down mountain rivers, horseback riding, playing tennis, and alpine skiing. The best medicine against arthritis is movement! My hair hardly turns gray. Everyone thinks I'm painting them. Even my children don’t believe it!
A married couple relaxes during joint cycling, hiking and horseback riding.
Personal life of Robert Redford
Young student Lola Van Wagenen drops out of college to marry the charming Redford. This significant event takes place on September 12, 1958 - Redford is only 22.
Lola and Robert have three children. There is no sign of a break. But the actor’s stormy romance with Sonia Braga leads to a divorce from his wife after 27 years of marriage.
For a long time, Redford, despite his age, remained an eligible bachelor. In 2009, at the age of 73, he finally married 52-year-old artist Sibylle Zaggars, whom he had been dating for more than a decade.
He already has four grandchildren. “I may be the most beautiful grandfather in this world. Well, apart from Marlon Brando,” jokes the actor.
Photo by Robert Redford : Rex Features/Fotobank.ru
What has the actor been up to lately?
In 2020, Redford announced that his acting career was over, but he broke his promise almost immediately by playing Mr. Meachum in Pete's Dragon. A year later, Robert appeared at the Venice Film Festival, where he brought the film “Our Souls at Night,” in which he starred with his longtime partner Jane Fonda. The drama is about a man and a woman. They have lived in the neighborhood for a long time, but only in old age did they reveal their feelings.
Jane Fonda and Robert Redford in the film Our Souls at Night
In 2020, Redford starred in Discovery alongside Rooney Mara and Jason Segel. In this science fiction film, he played the scientist Thomas Harbor, who proved the existence of life after death. After he made his discovery public, mass suicides began to occur in different parts of the Earth.
In 2020, the actor played the role of Forrest Tucker in The Old Man with a Gun. Redford also produced the crime drama about a hardened burglar who, at the end of his life, thinks about his last case.
A year later, in the final “Avengers,” Redford appeared on screen in the role of Alexander Pierce. And in 2020, he took part in the creation of a documentary about Natalie Wood, where he gave an interview about their collaboration in various projects.
Robert Redford now
Despite the fact that Robert Redford announced the end of his acting career in 2020, films with the participation of the American cinema star continue to be released.
In 2020, the drama “Our Souls at Night” premiered at the Venice Festival, starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. The heroes of the film are neighbors who, after a lifelong acquaintance, decided to get to know each other better. Both actors, who have repeatedly appeared on camera together during their careers, received a special award at the film festival.
In the same year, another film was shown, in which Robert Redford appeared in the main cast. This is a science-fiction film “Discovery” about a scientist who proved that life exists after death. After the publication of scientific data, a series of mass suicides began in the world. The film also stars Jason Segel and Rooney Mara.
Now Robert Redford is working on another masterpiece – the drama “The Old Man and the Gun.” In the film, which he himself is producing, the artist will play the main character. The character Forrest Tucker has been engaged in robbery and robbery all his life. At the end of his life, the old man takes on his last task.
