He was also a pioneering environmentalist, the patron saint of the independent film movement, an Oscar -winning director, a top -notch actor and a genuine film icon
Born in California, he for a long time called Utah home. Redford He grew up like what he called a “Youth delinquent” in Los Angeles before getting a baseball scholarship for a university in Colorado. After being sent off, he wandered through Europe and ended up in Brooklyn to study painting.
As soon as Redford He changed his attention to the performance, he had barely graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts when he began to get work at theater and occasional roles on television in series such as Route 66 and Alfred Hitchcock PresentS. Years later, he often expressed frustration with his limited skills at the beginning of his career, and felt that he could not equate with the “serious” actors of the time, “Montgomery Clifts” and “Marlon Brandos” that everyone considered the peak temperamental and “of the method” of art.
But Redford It was already cultivating a presence-an ability to make you look at it even if it was in the background. When he finally acted next to Mildin the southern melodrama of Arthur Penn, The Human Hunt (1966), the Youth delinquent of Santa Monica did more than well.
Part of this was that life experience that allowed him to add a touch of realism to his promising conquering and young characters. And part of that was that face, the kind of Adonis countenance that hangs the Bonito to frankly beautiful scale.
Redford I knew how to use your superhuman beauty with great effect on the screen, either as a way to attract someone, sometimes misleadingly (see: The reverse of a life, The passport to hell, The candidate, Master), or leave a woman at your feet. The anecdote often told about the actor, who had already drawn attention in Barefoot in the parkseeking the coveted lead role in The first night of a mansays it all.
Mike Nicholswhich had directed Redford on stage in the original production of the Broadway BarefootHe told his friend that he was totally wrong for the role of Benjamin Braddock. “When was the last time you took one out of a woman?”the director asked the Redford. “Like this?”answered the actor, genuinely confused. Proven argument.
There were many photogenic profiles in Hollywood in the late 1960s, however. Redford He stood out because he knew how to combine that appearance, with his university athlete physique and an innate sense of honor, in something that seemed, at the same time, contained and explosive when filtered by Celuloid’s strips. The camera loved him. The audience too, who felt that this golden boy was also a decent man.
This is why they bought their rogues duo with their real -life friend Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy (1969) and Master (1973), also known as the bromances that gave rise to a thousand comedies of friends. This is also why he was able to interpret an idealist crushed by the electoral system in The candidate (1972), an obscure object of desire in Our Yesterday’s Love (1973), an innocent analyst involved in CIA’s rods in The three days of the condor (1975), and characters from “White Knight” as Bob Woodward in All men of the president (1976) or the rodeo champion who defends animal rights in The Electric Knight (1979).
See how it turns a scene involving the Watergate reporter receiving a call from a source in a three -act piece. It makes journalism investigative complex the sexiest and most fair profession on the planet.
This also translated into activism of Redford Outside the screens, whether political or environmental basis. It may have been an initial prototype of Hollywood’s modern liberal, the scourge of those who felt that famous people like him should simply make the cinematic equivalent of “silent and acting.” But Redford He researched and was consistent between discourse and practice. He defended a series of candidates and causes when it was risky to do so, as opposed to a charcoal power plant in southern Utah in 1976.
And when Redford He started driving movies instead of just starring them full time, he took his need to draw attention to social causes. Your debut, People like us (1980), it is a direct character work that favors its literary material of origin and its interpreters; You can see that an actor is in charge, which did not prevent the drama strictly built from earning the Oscar for best movie.
But he followed with The rebellion in Milagro (1988), who opposed Latin farmers to real estate developers; Nothing is forever (1992), an adaptation of the novel of Norman Maclean which allowed a current of environmental concern to run under; Quiz Show – The Truth Behind the Backstage (1994), which transformed the scandals of the TV show Twenty-one in a parable about morality and the media; and several other films with civic consciousness, from Lions and lambs (2007) American conspiracy (2010).
He still lent his movie star personnel and his seriousness to other directors – this is the age of An outstanding man (1984), Between two loves (1985) and Indecent proposal (1993), all materials for compilations of great successes – but he embraced the idea of being a more participative storyteller as he aged. You can feel it passing the “golden boy” torch to guys like Pitt. (This conversation between the two stars during a tribute in Telluride, by the way, is priceless.)
And then, on the sixth day, the Lord Bob He created Sundance – and saw it was good. Having settled in Park City, Utah, Redford He was deeply involved with the Utah/US film festival, which had moved from Salt Lake City to the city of skiing in 1981.
He eventually helped transform the small and modest event in what would later be renamed Sundance Film Festival, in honor of his out -of -law character. He also supervised the operations of the Sunday Institute, which brought experienced industry veterans to Park City to guide beginners and beginner directors and help them develop projects. As a formative laboratory for the next generation of filmmakers, it was unparalleled and invaluable. Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson They passed by.
Like this Taika Waititi, Richard Linklater, Lulu Wang, Ryan Coogler, Sterlin Harjo and dozens of other important names. Its focus on indigenous filmmakers was especially unique. These twin totems of American indie cinema remain a huge part of the legacy of Redfordnot to mention an ode to your commitment to promote the future of the media. For years, you saw him walking through the festival, sometimes doing long introductions for the screenings and sometimes simply circulating around the corners, glad to let the next crop occupy the spotlight.
However, it is the Redford A star who comes to mind first as we said goodbye to him today-still the guy who smiled on the screen and made the hearts guess, still the guy jumping out of the cliff with butch (“I can’t swim!”), Still the guy who made you think that good people were still walking down the earth and sought to protect her. Your mind can go immediately to the Redford of the early years, or the Redford the height of the 1970s, or even the Redford of midlife that gave projects a sense of seriousness.
For us, this scene of their last big role in the cinema, in the extraordinary and elegiac The old man and the weapon (2018), David Lowerysays it all. Is just a career criminal in his winter years, taking advantage of a car ride and talking to the widow of SISSY SPACEK During lunch. And in the hands of RedfordYou capture a lifetime in a single and long exchange of dialogues. He was unique.
Also read: ‘Summoning Evil 4’ has taken over 3.4 million Brazilians to theaters
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Robert Redford
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
