Robert Redford
From pretty box office poison to “Avengers” star
The blooming life in his mid-80s too: Robert Redford.
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Robert Redford has been on earth for 85 years. For his fans, however, he will remain the Sundance Kid forever.
It is often said that attractive people have an easier time in life. It is undisputed that Robert Redford (85) owed it to his looks to get foot in the gate of the dream factory over six decades ago. Success for the birthday child, who will turn 85 on August 18th, did not come automatically, on the contrary. At the beginning of his career he was considered a pretty box office poison and had to prove more than many other actors that behind the well-formed face there is also a good actor slumbering.
“You can’t play losers”
Whether the war film “Behind Enemy Lines”, the drama “Damned, Sweet World” or the high-ranking film “A man is hunted” with Marlon Brando (1924-2004), Jane Fonda (83) and Robert Duvall (90) – the Redford’s first films in the early 1960s all flopped at the box office. He didn’t get a potentially groundbreaking role because he looked too good for her.
This wonderful anecdote was once told by director Mike Nichols (1931-2014) according to “Vanity Fair”. When he was looking for the lead role in his film “The Graduation” (1967) and Redford brought himself into play, Nichols replied, “You can’t play that. You can never play a loser.” When he asked Redford if he had ever received a basket from a woman and he simply did not understand the question, Nichols saw his assumption confirmed – and Dustin Hoffman (84) was instead wrapped around his finger by Mrs. Robinson.
The Sundance Kid was born
Redford didn’t have to grieve for long, however, because in the same year as “The Graduate” he still achieved his breakthrough thanks to the comedy “Barefoot in the Park”. Only two years later the big hit with the western comedy “Zwei Banditen”, in the original “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. In addition to Redford, Paul Newman (1925-2008) provided the eponymous cowboy duo, the film was the most successful theatrical release of the year in the USA and even ousted a certain 007, who was then “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”.
For the next 50 years, Redford was an indispensable part of the silver screen. In 1974 he lived as “The Great Gatsby” in booze, booze and lovesickness, brought down US President Richard Nixon (1913-1994) in 1976 (at the side of Dustin Hoffman) in “The Incorruptible” or shone next to the in 1985 eternally great Meryl Streep (72) in “Out of Africa”.
A night with Demi Moore and an illegitimate film son
Even in the 1990s, Redford was anything but unemployed. At the age of almost 60, he made Demi Moore (58) “an immoral offer” before he took part in and also shot the film that many (female) viewers still associate him with today: “The Horse Whisperer” with Kristin Scott Thomas (61 ) and Scarlett Johansson (36) in their teens. But it was not until 2001 before Redford met the person in “Spy Game – The Finale Countdown” who is suspected to be his secret son in various Google searches: Brad Pitt (57). The resemblance of the two in the agent thriller, in which they were not father and son, but mentor and student, was almost eerie.
In his older days, from 2013 onwards, Redford was still driven to the opposite poles of commerce. In the indie masterpiece “All Is Lost” by JC Chandor (47), only the weather-beaten Redford can be seen on a sailboat for over 106 minutes, only a few words are spoken. Just one year later, however, he entered the Marvel universe with “The Return of the First Avenger”, in which he made his last cinema appearance in 2019 with “Avengers: Endgame” and well over 80 years ago. Because in 2018 Redford announced that the act would be over afterwards.
Earnings away from the limelight
As bumpy as the beginning of his career as an actor may have been, he got off to an impressive start as a director. His first (“A very normal family”) of a total of nine directorial works earned him an Oscar for “Best Director” in 1981, followed by an honorary Oscar for his life’s work in 2002. Shortly after winning his first Oscar, he also founded the Sundance Institute, from which the Sundance Film Festival, which still takes place in 1984, emerged in 1984. Filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino (58), Jim Jarmusch (68) and the Coen brothers owed their worldwide breakthrough to the independent festival.
By the way, Redford fans can also approach their vacation in a way that suits their idol. As early as 1969, he bought a natural piece of land in the Rocky Mountains from his first salary. In the – how could it be called otherwise – you can now spend the night in luxury there.
The drama of his real life
Redford did not experience the greatest dramas in front of the camera, but as a family man. His first marriage to Lola Van Wagenen (82) from 1958 to 1985 had four children, but only two of them are still alive. His firstborn son Scott died in 1959, and he had to say goodbye to his youngest son David James Redford in 2020. He died of cancer at the age of 59.
The woman at the Hollywood star’s side has been the German painter Sibylle Szaggars (64) since 1996, with whom he married in Hamburg in 2009. He lives with her, wherever, in Sundance, Utah.