Actor and director Robert Redford has died. The New York Times reported the news . The Oscar-winning and beloved actor died in his sleep at his home in Utah at age 89.
He was born in Santa Monica on August 18, 1936, to a modest family; his father was a milkman and accountant of Irish origin. When his mother died at just 41, Robert Redford dropped out of school in 1956 and left for France and Italy to pursue an artistic career. In Paris, he survived thanks to painting. He then moved to Florence, where he attended art school, but a series of disappointments and, above all, a general state of depression drove him to return to the United States.
Upon his return, meeting Lola Van Wagenen, his wife of nearly thirty years with whom he had four children, was crucial to his career as an actor and director. It was she who introduced him to the theater. After moving to New York, Redford attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts: one of his teachers found him a role on Broadway. This was the beginning of a career that would lead him to make over fifty films and win two Oscars in 1981, one as director for Ordinary People and the second for Lifetime Achievement in 2002.
Among his most famous films are Out of Africa with Meryl Streep, The Sting and Butch Cassidy with his friend Paul Newman, The Way We Were with Barbra Streisand, All the President's Men with Dustin Hoffman, Three Days of the Condor by Sydney Pollack, The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald with Mia Farrow.
In 2017, he received the Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Venice, along with Jane Fonda. "A career as an actor has always seemed like climbing a mountain, but what do you do when you reach the top?" he said at the exhibition. "Jane and I have developed a total harmony, a great rhythm, and I'm happy to share this award with her and to receive it here in Italy. At 18, I spent a particularly important period here for me. Before becoming an actor, I wanted to be an artist, and I studied at the Academy of Art in Florence. It was an experience that had a huge impact on me."
A charming actor and Hollywood icon, Redford has always strived to transcend the aura of a handsome actor, demonstrating skill and professionalism as an actor and director. His commitment to social and environmental causes has been one of his goals. He has consistently championed battles against pollution, illegal fishing, and climate change, becoming a leading voice for nature conservation.
In 1981, he founded the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, which have become a global benchmark for independent cinema. In 2016, he announced his retirement from acting, which he confirmed in 2018 after the films Our Souls at Night and Old Man & the Gun.
Over the course of his long career, he has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for Best Director for Ordinary People and one for Lifetime Achievement in 2002; he has also been nominated three more times for Best Actor for The Sting (1973) and for Best Director and Best Picture for Quiz Show. In 2017, he was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
He consolidated his fame in the 70s with The Red Crow (1972), The Candidate (1972), The Way We Were (1973) with Barbra Streisand, and above all The Sting, which won seven Oscars. This was followed by The Great Gatsby (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975) and All the President's Men (1976), a masterpiece about the Watergate scandal.
In the 1980s, Redford moved behind the camera. He received critical acclaim for Ordinary People (1980) and won the Oscar for Best Director. He then directed The Milagro, A River Runs Through It (1992), and Quiz Show (1994), which earned him another Oscar nomination. As an actor, he starred in iconic films such as Indecent Proposal (1993) and The Horse Whisperer (1998).
In the 2000s, he alternated between directing and acting: The Legend of Bagger Vance (2007), Lions for Lambs (2010), The Conspirator (2012), and The Company You Keep (2014). In XNUMX, he surprised audiences with an unusual role: the villain Alexander Pierce in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which he reprised in Avengers: Endgame.
A star career with a great independent soul.
It's truly sad to hear of Robert Redford's passing. He was a great actor and director, and he left a mark on cinema. His films, like Out of Africa, were very important to many audiences. His career was long and successful, but now it's over.