Robert Redford was one of the defining movie stars of the American New Wave era, a performer whose combination of physical magnetism and dramatic intelligence made him one of the most bankable and respected actors Hollywood has ever produced. He broke through with Barefoot in the Park (1967) and went on to a career that includes Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Sting (1973), All the President’s Men (1976), and Out of Africa (1985). His Academy Award for Best Director for Ordinary People (1980) and his founding of the Sundance Institute confirmed him as one of the most influential figures in American film on both sides of the camera.

On screen, Redford in his prime photographed with a golden, sun-warmed handsomeness that felt specific to a particular American optimism. The blue eyes, the strawberry blonde hair, and an athletic ease that made physical roles look unconsidered gave him a screen presence that defined an era of Hollywood leading men. He aged into a distinguished and weathered gravitas, and his final performance in The Old Man and the Gun (2018) felt like a farewell designed to remind audiences exactly what they had been watching for fifty years.