Death of Robert Redford: His Ten Most Emblematic Roles
HOLLYWOOD LEGEND: Cinema legend, actor Robert Redford has died at the age of 89. From “Butch Cassidy and the Kid” to “Out of Africa”, a look back at his cult roles on the big screen.
Sacred monster of cinema, Robert Redford, died Tuesday morning at the age of 89, the New York Times. The American actor embodied a certain solar side of America: environmentalist, committed, independent and prosperous.
Inseparable from certain great cinema classics, such as “Butch Cassidy and the Kid” (1969), “The Scam” (1973) or “The President’s Men” (1976), Robert Redford has toured with other Hollywood legends, including Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Mia Farrow. A look back at his cult roles in pictures.
Robert Redford saw his career take off thanks to “Butch Cassidy and the Kid” which he co-starred with Paul Newman in 1969.
In 1972, Robert Redford plays a former soldier who takes refuge in the mountains of Colorado to escape the violence of civilization. “Jeremiah Johnson” was selected in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival the year of its release.
In “The Sting”, released in 1973, Robert Redford once again crosses paths with Paul Newman with whom he hatches a ploy to avenge the death of a sidekick. Nominated in ten categories at the Oscars, the film won seven of the coveted statuettes.
A year later, in 1974, Robert Redford appeared in another cult film, “The Great Gatsby”, in which he starred opposite Mia Farrow. Notice to the younger generations, no this is not the version with DiCaprio (but the role is the same).
Another film that marked Robert Redford’s career, “Three Days of the Condor” by Sydney Pollack (1975) transformed him into a CIA cryptographer alongside Faye Dunaway.
Another year, another cult film. It is in “The President’s Men” that we find Robert Redford in 1976, alongside Dustin Hoffman. The two cinema legends slip this time into the shoes of two journalists from the Washington Post in the midst of the Watergate scandal.
Nearly a decade later, Robert Redford experiences a (tragic) passion with Meryl Streep in “Out of Africa”, offering one of the most romantic scenes in cinema as he washes her hair in the wilderness.
Robert Redford combines acting, director and producer talents for the first time in “The Horse Whisperer”, released in 1998. A feature film which also stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Scarlett Johansson and Sam Neill.
In “Spy Game: Spy Game” by Tony Scott, Robert Redford plays (again) a CIA agent. Is this one of his most iconic roles? We’ll let you judge. Still, he shares the bill with Brad Pitt who has often been presented as the new Redford.
Don’t look for it on the poster for “Avengers: Endgame”, Robert Redford does not appear there. The fact remains that this is the last film in which the cinema legend made an appearance in 2015, ten years before his death at the age of 89.
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