![]() He appeared in only 10 films over the next two decades. He finished out the decade with The Electric Horsemen (1979), which reteamed him with his Barefoot in the Park costar, Jane Fonda.įor all his success as an actor, Redford won his first (and so far only) Academy Award as a director, for the emotional family drama Ordinary People (1980). Throughout the decade, with starring roles in Three Days of the Condor and The Great Waldo Pepper (both 1975) and a turn as the star and producer of the acclaimed All the President’s Men (1976), costarring Dustin Hoffman. Scott Fitzgerald’s much-loved novel, The Great Gatsby, costarring Mia Farrow and Sam Waterston. In 1974, Redford played the title character in Francis Ford Coppola’s film adaptation of F. The latter film received 10 Academy Award nominations (including one for Redford as Best Actor) and won in several major categories, including Best Director and Best Picture. While Redford had several more relative disappointments over the next three years, he hit it big in 1973, starring in two blockbusters-The Way We Were, costarring Barbra Streisand, and The Sting, which reunited him with Hill and Newman. ![]() Redford’s sly performance undoubtedly added to the overall excellence of the film, which became the top-grossing hit of the year and won four Academy Awards, including one for Best Original Screenplay.Īs a newly anointed Hollywood golden boy, Redford also earned critical praise that same year for Downhill Racer and Tell Them Willie Boy is Here, although neither film connected with audiences in the same way as Butch Cassidy. At first rejected by the head of Twentieth-Century Fox for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Redford won the part after negotiations with other, more well-known actors fell through and the producer gave in to pressure from the film’s director, George Roy Hill, and star, Paul Newman. Even so, Redford had to fight for the role that would make him a bona fide star. The film was a box office hit, reviving Redford’s career and earning him a good deal of attention from audiences and filmmakers alike. In 1967, Redford returned to Hollywood, where he reprised his role in a film version of Barefoot in the Park, costarring Jane Fonda. In Europe pondering his next professional move. Discouraged, Redford spent the next two years It was slow going, however, as Redford’s first five films (beginning with War Hunt) failed to attract audiences, although his performance opposite Natalie Wood in Inside Daisy Clover (1965) earned him a Golden Globe Award for the most promising male newcomer. The show was a smash hit, but 11 months into the run Redford tired of the daily grind of stage work and decided to focus on making movies. In 1963, the comedian and director Mike Nichols cast Redford as the lead in his Broadway production of Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park. He made his feature film debut in War Hunt (1962), which received critical praise but made a poor showing at the box office. Over the next several years, Redford combined stage work in such Broadway plays as The Highest Tree, The Iceman Cometh, and Sunday in New York with work on television, including guest appearances on the popular series Route 66, Alfred Hitchcock Presents,Īnd The Twilight Zone. Redford’s first acting job came in 1959, when the stage manager for the Broadway production of Tall Story asked him to audition for a small part after another actor left the project. He also began taking classes in theatrical set design at New York’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The couple moved to New York, where Redford enrolled as a painting student at the prestigious Pratt Institute. That same year, he met and married Lola Jean Van Wagenen, a Mormon student from Utah who encouraged him to cut back on his drinking and resume his pursuit of a career as an artist. By 1958, Redford had become frustrated with his slow progress and decided to return to Los Angeles. He ended up traveling around Europe, eventually studying painting with a teacher in Florence, Italy. With aspirations to become a painter, Redford took a job in a Los Angeles oil field to earn money in order to travel to Paris, where he planned to attend art school. He was subsequently kicked off the baseball team and lost his scholarship. ![]() His performance in college and athletics rapidly deteriorated, and he began to drink heavily and skip classes and practice. That same year, however, his mother Martha died suddenly, leaving Redford extremely shaken. ![]() A talented athlete, the younger Redford won a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1955. Redford’s father, Charles Redford Sr., worked as a milkman until after World War II, when he got a job as an accountant for the Standard Oil Company. Born Charles Robert Redford Jr., on August 18, 1937, in Santa Monica, California. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |