Why Robert Redford was so much more than a Hollywood A-lister
Robert Redford was an acting legend and an Oscar-winning director but neither of those delivered his ‘proudest achievement’
With starring roles in films such as Barefoot in the Park, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Jeremiah Johnson, The Sting, Three Days of the Condor, All the President's Men and Out of Africa, Robert Redford, who has died at the age of 89, was a blockbuster Hollywood star.
He was as famous as any of the greats of his era, actors like Paul Newman and Dustin Hoffman, whom he played alongside, and his mere presence in a film could draw an audience. But he was also much more than that.
Redford was an Oscar-winning director of films including Ordinary People, The Milagro Beanfield War, A River Runs Through It and Quiz Show, and a dedicated campaigner on environmental issues, including climate change.
However, he wrote on social media recently that founding the Sundance Institute, a non-profit organisation designed to help independent filmmakers and other artists which holds an annual film festival, “remains my proudest achievement”.
For Redford, ideas were always more important than being a big star – and that’s why his brilliant legacy will continue to shine long, long after his death.
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