Robert Redford is one of those people who seem immortal, or at least had the charisma to startle you when he dies. And he just did die. He wasn’t young—89 years old. Still, I considered him the handsomest movie star ever, and I’ve said that if I could switch place with any man, it would be Redford (Paul Newman would be a close second). Here’s the announcement from the Washington Post (click to read h/t Matthew):
An excerpt:
His death was announced in a statement by publicist Cindi Berger, who did not cite a cause.
Since 1981, Mr. Redford had been president and founder of the Sundance Institute in Park City, Utah. He said his arts colony was not about “insurgents coming down from the mountain to attack the mainstream” but about broadening the very concept of mainstream. Sundance provided a vital platform for two generations of outside-the-system filmmakers — from Quentin Tarantino to Ava DuVernay — who were embraced by ticketbuyers and studios and helped enlarge the definition of commercial fare in a risk-averse industry.
My two favorite movies of his are Out of Africa, starring Meryl Streep as Karen Blixen, and The Way We Were, costarring Barbra Streisand (both women are my eternal heartthrobs). Here are two scenes from the first movie and one from the second. movie. In the first bit, Redford, who plays Denys Finch Hatton, a big-game guide and Blixen’s lover, encounters Blixen’s husband.
Below is the final scene from the movie, in which Blixen leaves Africa. It features Finch-Hatton’s funeral after he died in a plane crash, as well as Blixen’s farewell to her favorite helper, and, most moving, a report of lions resting on Finch-Hatton’s grave. All the words are genuine, taken from Blixen’s book Out of Africa. The prose is stunningly beautiful, and I can’t hold back tears at the lion bit. But they truncated the words a bit. The real excerpt from the book is better, as it has a final paragraph:
After I had left Africa, Gustav Mohr wrote to me of a strange thing that had happened by Denys’ grave, the like of which I have never heard. “The Masai,” he wrote, “have reported to the District Commissioner at Ngong, that many times, at sunrise and sunset, they have seen lions on Finch-Hatton’s grave in the Hills. A lion and a lioness have come there, and stood, or lain, on the grave for a long time. Some of the Indians who have passed the place in their lorries on the way to Kajado have also seen them. After you went away, the ground round the grave was levelled out, into a sort of big terrace, I suppose that the level place makes a good site for the lions, from there they can have a view over the plain, and the cattle and game on it.”
It was fit and decorous that the lions should come to Denys’s grave and make him an African monument. “And renowned be thy grave.” Lord Nelson himself, I have reflected, in Trafalgar Square, has his lions made only out of stone.
Redford is not in this clip, but his presence is palpable:
. . . and the heartbreaking farewell scene from “The Way We Were,” after the pair, having broken up years ago, meet by accident and have a bittersweet final farewell:
Awww, sad to learn …
I was 13 when I went to see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I fell in love with Redford then. His beauty and charisma were dazzling. I love both these movies you showed clips from, both terrific actresses. He was a great star, an icon.
That’s a shame. The first movie I remember Redford from was The Sting, which is still a great watch.
“The Sting” is an immortal classic. I still enjoy watching the movie whenever it is broadcast on television.
Sad. The Way We Were is my favorite. The Sting was my first.
I saw him in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, All The President’s Men, and Out of Africa, the first being my favourite. All The President’s Men was not bad. Woodward is still with us!
He also produced and directed Quiz Show, one of my all time favorite films. Great career.
The Way We Were is such a great movie. My favorite line is in the final scene shown above.
When she said-“I’m a sore loser.” Redford says “Better than I am.” Her response of “I’ve had more practice” is an incredible line when you see their differences.
Robert Redford seemed to be everywhere when I was growing up in the 70s but I have to confess that I’ve never watched any of his most famous movies.
However, I do remember his appearance in the original Twilight Zone TV series: “Nothing in the Dark” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734603/).
I have ever been a silent film fan. Watching “Nothing in the dark” I was fascinated by an elderly Gladys Cooper, who had been a star since the dawn of the 20th century.
Here she is (on the left)
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/english-actresses-glady-cooper-and-marie-studholme-circa-news-photo/1244720969
I had forgotten that she was in two other excellent Twilight Zone episodes, “Passage on the Lady Anne” and “Night Call”. I never knew about her earlier career!
Robert Redford was generally terrific, but I thought he was not so great as Denys Finch Hatton (he clearly couldn’t do a British accent). Even so, I love “Out of Africa” — mainly because of the scene where Redford flies over Thomson’s Falls. I lived in that area for about 6 months, and I was thrilled (several years later) to see two of my favorite actors in that faraway place. Redford was just beautiful to look at and a decent actor as well.
The director decided it woukd be distracting to the audience for Redford to use a British accent. He had to re-record some lines that he had done with an accent. That’s the story about why he plays the part with his own accent.
Sort of like Humphrey Bogart in “The African Queen”, who because he couldn’t manage a Cockney accent, was turned into a Canadian 🙂 (as a Canadian I didn’t even find that accent convincing).
Kevin Costner as Robin Hood anyone?
When I was in high school I had a job as an usher at a local movie theatre, one of the grand old ones that generally don’t exist anymore. Huge lobby, sweeping staircase to the balcony, only one film featured at a time. One of the longest running features while I was there was The Sting. For weeks and weeks I saw various snippets and scenes of that film, to the point I could recite virtually every line in it.
Spoiler alert! (Probably not needed, but in the unlikely event that you haven’t seen the film but plan to, stop reading and go to the next paragraph). I’ll always remember the audience reaction at the end when viewers find out that Redford and Newman aren’t dead. Got a roar from the crowd, with cheering and clapping, every single time. A more innocent age for film audiences.
Redford did a lot of great films. Out of Africa, yes absolutely (the lack of proper accent doesn’t bother me). But as a teenager it felt kind of like I owned part of The Sting.
Barbra Streisand has way too much talent for one human being.
I’ll just give a shout out to All is Lost. Quite the survival tale, negligible dialog, Redford as old man lost at sea, there because he is escaping something. Compelling. I haven’t seen it in 10 years, but I’d like to rewatch. Have enjoyed all the comments and remembrances of a true Hollywood star! RIP Mr. Redford.
PS: Jerry, I thought you wanted to change places with Stephen Stills. Or maybe you parse categories between musicians and actors. Good move 😉
An old joke second hand from a Pinker tweet:
When Indecent Proposal came out, a cartoon showed a couple leaving the theater, and the husband asked his wife, “Would you sleep with Robert Redford for a million dollars?” She replies, “Yes, but I’d need some time to come up with the money.”
https://x.com/sapinker/status/1968160553769062829
Well, that certainly steals the thunder from the best I could come up with:
Cartoon of couple in bed, both looking hurt and dejected. He’s sitting up with his legs over the side, his back to her, head in his hands. She, truculent, to his cold shoulder: “Well, would you rather that I was thinking about you while I was doing it with Robert Redford?”