Robert Redford - Biography

Last Editor: pupurple				Robert Redford Biography -   Name : Robert Redford Born : Charles Robert Redford Jr. August 18, 1936 (1936-08-18) (age 73) Santa Monica, California, U.S. Occupation : Actor, producer, director, businessman, model, environmentalist, philanthropist Years active : 1959–present Spouse(s) : Lola van Wagenen (1958–1985) Sibylle Szaggars (2009–present)

Robert Redford Trivia -

Ranked #29 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#4). [1995] Father of Shauna Redford and Amy Redford. Father of James Redford. Dating German painter Sibylle Szaggars. [1999-present] Was considered for the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972). Named an Officer of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Left-handed. Mentioned in the theme song of the 1980s TV hit "The Fall Guy" (1981). Turned down the role of Ben Braddock in The Graduate (1967) because he didn't feel he could project the right amount of naivite. In the early 1970s, Paramount had plans that were unrealized to remake Double Indemnity (1944) with Redford in the Fred MacMurray role. Graduated from Van Nuys High School (Los Angeles) in 1955. Is a National Member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity (brothers include Cory Poccia and Michael C. Williams) Was a pitcher on The University of Colorado baseball team in the mid 1950's Has done eleven period pieces including the hits: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Sting (1973), The Natural (1984) and Out of Africa (1985). He is the founder of 'The Sundance Film Festival' which he named after his character 'The Sundance Kid' from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). He and Baseball pitcher Don Drysdale were in the same High School graduation class together. Has appeared in six movies dealing with adultery in some form or another: The Way We Were (1973), The Great Gatsby (1974), Out of Africa (1985), Havana (1990), Indecent Proposal (1993) and The Horse Whisperer (1998). In addition to being the graduation speaker for Bard College's 144th Commencement (class of 2004), he also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the college. Was given a fishing rod in lieu of the agreed $75 payment for his first professional acting appearance, on a TV game show. He was voted the 30th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Alumni of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) Is of mostly Irish descent Was originally attached to "The Verdict" (1982), but dropped out prior to production. The role of Frank Galvin was taken over by his friend Paul Newman, who won an Oscar nomination. After his suggestions of Warren Beatty, Alain Delon and Burt Reynolds to play the role of Michael Corleone in "The Godfather" were rejected by Francis Ford Coppola, Paramount production chief Robert Evans suggested Robert Redford. When Coppola demurred, preferring his first choice of Tony Awar-winning Broadway actor Al Pacino, Evans explained that Redford could fit the role as he could be perceived as "northern Italian." Evans lost the struggle, Pacino was cast, and a star was born. Dislikes watching his own films. The only film in which he was completely satisfied with his own performance was The Sting. Long-time girlfriend is German artist, Sibylle Szaggars. He was voted the 17th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine. He is an environmental conservationist and often advocates and supports natural causes. Along with Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Richard Attenborough and Kevin Costner one of six people to win and Academy Award for Best Director, though they are mainly known as actors. Attended Van Nuys High School at the same time as Natalie Wood, who was already a star. Later in life, they starred together in Inside Daisy Clover (1965) and became good friends. He recieved Kennedy Center Honors in 2005. Other recipients were Tina Turner, Tony Bennett, Suzanne Farrell and Julie Harris. He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington, DC in 1996. His performance as the Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) is ranked #20 on the American Film Institute's 100 Heroes & Villains. This is a ranking he shares with Paul Newman, who portrayed Butch Cassidy. His performance as Bob Woodward in All the President's Men (1976) is ranked #27 on the American Film Institute's 100 Heroes & Villains. This is a ranking he shares with Dustin Hoffman, who portrayed Carl Bernstein. In Germany he shares his dubbing voice with Patrick Stewart and Sir Anthony Hopkins. He often did his own stunts in action sequences but made sure the stunt men who were hired for it were paid, so as not to put anyone out of work. Turned down the leading roles in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), The Graduate (1967), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Love Story (1970) and The Day of the Jackal (1973). He set up the Sundance Film Institute in Utah for independent filmmakers and in 1997 announced the creation of Sundance Cinemas, a venture with a major distributer to set up a chain of theaters for the screening of independent films. As of 2007, none of these theaters has been built. He was awarded an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement as the creator of Sundance, an inspiration to independent and innovative filmmakers everywhere in 2002. Lifelong friends with Sydney Pollack both men having made their feature film acting debuts in War Hunt (1962). In 1960, he spent his last $500 on two acres of land in Utah, an investment that would ultimately grow to 5,000 acres becoming home to his Sundance Institute. Founded by Redford in 1969, Sundance is located at the base of Utah's picturesque Mt. Timpanogos. Turned down the role in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). Born to Charles Robert Redford Sr., an accountant, and his wife Martha W. Hart. Was romantically linked to Sonia Braga and Kathy O'Rear. Ranked #53 in Empire Magazines 100 Sexiest Movie Stars of all time. Appeared in 7 movies that were directed by Sydney Pollack: This Property Is Condemned (1966), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Way We Were (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Electric Horseman (1979), Out of Africa (1985) and Havana (1990/I). They also both appeared in War Hunt (1962). Directed 4 actors in Oscar nominated performances: Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton, and Paul Scofield. Hutton won for his performance in Ordinary People (1980). Lyrics to Mel Tillis' song "Coca Cola Cowboy" refer to "an Eastwood smile and Robert Redford hair". He got marriad to his longterm artist girlfriend Sibylle Szaggars in the Hamburg city of  Germany on July 11, 2009.

Robert Redford Detailed Biography -

The rugged, dashingly handsome Robert Redford was among the biggest movie stars of the 1970s. While an increasingly rare onscreen presence in subsequent years, he remained a powerful motion-picture industry force as an Academy Award-winning director as well as a highly visible champion of American independent filmmaking. Born Charles Robert Redford Jr. on August 18, 1937, in Santa Monica, CA, he attended the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship. After spending a year as an oil worker, he traveled to Europe, living the painter's life in Paris. Upon returning to the U.S., Redford settled in New York City to pursue an acting career and in 1959 made his Broadway debut with a small role in Tall Story. Bigger and better parts in productions including The Highest Tree, Little Moon of Alban, and Sunday in New York followed, along with a number of television appearances, and in 1962 he made his film debut in Terry and Dennis Sanders' antiwar drama War Hunt. However, it was a leading role in the 1963 Broadway production of Barefoot in the Park which launched Redford to prominence and opened the door to Hollywood, where in 1965 he starred in back-to-back productions of Situation Serious but Not Hopeless and Inside Daisy Clover. A year later he returned in The Chase and This Property Is Condemned, but like his previous films they were both box-office failures. Offered a role in Mike Nichols' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Redford rejected it and then spent a number of months relaxing in Spain. His return to Hollywood was met with an offer to co-star with Jane Fonda in a film adaptation of Barefoot in the Park, released in 1967 to good reviews and even better audience response. However, Redford then passed on both The Graduate and Rosemary's Baby to star in a Western titled Blue. Just one week prior to shooting, he backed out of the project, resulting in a series of lawsuits and a long period of inactivity; with just one hit to his credit and a history of questionable career choices, he was considered a risky proposition by many producers. Then, in 1969, he and Paul Newman co-starred as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a massively successful revisionist Western which poised Redford on the brink of superstardom. However, its follow-ups -- 1969's Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here and The Downhill Racer -- both failed to connect, and after the subsequent failures of 1971's Fauss and Big Halsey and 1972's The Hot Rock, many industry observers were ready to write him off. Both 1972's The Candidate and Jeremiah Johnson fared markedly better, though, and with Sydney Pollack's 1973 romantic melodrama The Way We Were, co-starring Barbra Streisand, Redford's golden-boy lustre was restored. That same year he reunited with Newman and their Butch Cassidy director George Roy Hill for The Sting, a Depression-era caper film which garnered seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture honors. Combined with its impressive financial showing, it solidified Redford's new megastar stature, and he was voted Hollywood's top box-office draw. Redford's next project cast him in the title role of director Jack Clayton's 1974 adaptation of The Great Gatsby; he also stayed in the film's 1920s milieu for his subsequent effort, 1975's The Great Waldo Pepper. Later that same year he starred in the thriller Three Days of the Condor before portraying Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in 1976's All the President's Men, Alan J. Pakula's masterful dramatization of the investigation into the Watergate burglary. In addition to delivering one of his strongest performances to date in the film, Redford also served as producer after first buying the rights to Woodward and Carl Bernstein's book of the same name. The 1977 A Bridge Too Far followed before Redford took a two-year hiatus from the screen. He didn't resurface until 1979's The Electric Horseman, followed a year later by Brubaker. Also in 1980 he made his directorial debut with the family drama Ordinary People, which won four Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor (for Timothy Hutton). By now, Redford's interest in acting was clearly waning; he walked out of The Verdict (a role then filled by Newman) and did not appear before the camera again for four years. When he finally returned in 1984's The Natural, however, it was to the usual rapturous public reception, and with 1985's Out of Africa he and co-star Meryl Streep were the focal points in a film which netted eight Oscars, including Best Picture. The 1986 film Legal Eagles, on the other hand, was both a commercial and critical stiff, and in its wake Redford returned to the director's chair with 1988's The Milagro Beanfield War. Apart from narrating the 1989 documentary To Protect Mother Earth -- one of many environmental activities to which his name has been attached -- Redford was again absent from the screen for several years before returning in 1990's Havana. The star-studded Sneakers followed in 1992, but his most significant effort that year was his third directorial effort, the acclaimed A River Runs Through It. In 1993 Redford scored his biggest box-office hit in some time with the much-discussed Indecent Proposal. He followed in 1994 with Quiz Show, a pointed examination of the TV game-show scandals of the 1950s which many critics considered his most accomplished directorial turn to date. After the 1996 romantic drama Up Close and Personal, he began work on his adaptation of Nicholas Evans' hit novel The Horse Whisperer. The film, co-starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Sam Neill, was a labor of love that unfortunately failed to win over most critics, who complained that the film was overly long and indulgent. However, more than one of these critics did acknowledge that despite the film's flaws, the sight of the rugged Redford squinting winsomely from beneath a cowboy hat still produced a decidedly unequivocal allure. The filmmaker was back behind the camera in 2000 as the director and producer of The Legend of Bagger Vance, a period drama about the fortunes of a faded golf pro (Matt Damon), his mysterious caddy (Will Smith), and the woman he loves (Charlize Theron). The film's sentimental mixture of fantasy and inspiration scored with audiences, and Redford next turned back to acting with roles in The Last Castle and Spy Game the following year. Though Castle garnered only a lukewarm response from audiences and critics alike, fans were nevertheless primed to see the seasoned actor share the screen with his A River Runs Through It star Brad Pitt in the eagerly anticipated Spy Game. In addition to his acting and directing work, Redford has also flexed his movie industry muscle as the founder of the Sundance Institute, an organization primarily devoted to promoting American independent filmmaking. By the early '90s, the annual Sundance Film Festival, held in the tiny community of Park City, Utah, had emerged as one of the key international festivals, with a reputation as a major launching pad for young talent. An outgrowth of its success was cable's Sundance Channel, a network similarly devoted to promoting and airing indie fare; a circuit of art house theaters bearing the Sundance name was also planned.