Top draw filmstars are very careful of their actions and image, but Robert Redford who passed away on 16 September was an exception. He worked hard to transcend his looks and image though wavy blond hair and boyish grin made him one of the most desired of leading men
His endeavour to transform himself found expression through his political advocacy together with his willingness to take on unglamorous roles. And of course, his dedication at providing platform for producing low budget films.
Hollywood’s golden boy Redford wore many hats. A matinee idol and a Oscar winning director as well as a man who unhesitatingly swam against the current of convention.
Redford rose to stardom in 1960s and as the ’70s dawned he became one of the biggest stars. Films he enacted like The Candidate, All the President’s Men and The Way We Were still resonate with today’s audience.
Commanding actresses paired with him. It was Jane Fonda Barefoot in the Park, Barbara Streissand in The Way We Were and Meryl Streep in Out of Africa were all his brilliant co-stars but they never outshone him.
He enjoyed being a sex symbol, except when he did n’t. “This image can be real handicap” he once complained.
Yet film studios continued to use him as a sex symbol. Redford was one of Hollywood’s preferred leads for decades.
He did not deny that such an image contributed to his string of hits. His career climbed new heights be it as Jeremiah Johnson about a legend in his own time mountain man or the The Natural , a man who gets a second chance at his dream baseball career; Redford to all intents and purposes was essaying a quintentially American story which actually has an universal appeal.
Starring Redford, Ordinary People tells about the disintegration of an upper middle class family after its son’s death was made under his debut direction. It won an Academy award for his first directorial effort as well as three other Oscars including for best picture.
He directed and produced A River Ran Through It is a period drama about Montana fly fishermen. Quiz Show was about a notorious television scandal was nominated for four Oscars including best picture and best director.
Be it the journalist Bob Woodword whose investigation felled US President Richard Nixon’s regime or the game hunter in Out of Africa, his roles are a class by themselves. Inarguably Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was his biggest box office success where he was a wily outlaw on screen.
He worked out a special chemistry in this film with his friend Paul Newman which was an extension of the warmth and teasing relationship off the screen. It is from this film that Sundance Institute and festival of which Redford was the driving force got its name.
Redford had watched Hollywood grow more controlling during the ’70s and wanted to recapture the spirit of the early part of the decade. Sundance was the outcome of these thoughts.
Sundance was created to nurture new talent away from the pressures of Hollywood. Located at Park City, Utah it became the place of discovery for such previously unknown filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daren Aronofsky.
In his own words, the key word in Redford’s life was “independence”. His dream project Sundance Institute was to create a category that supported independent artists who are not given a chance to be heard.
Redford breathed his last in Sundance in Utah – the place he loved. His publicist Cidi Berger said in a statement “he was surrounded by those he loved.’
What more can an individual ask for. Besides a great actor and a human being who spared a thought for others, he was at the same time a maverick and a pioneer; let this be his epitaph.
