Robert Redford, the actor who changed American cinema, dies
17 September 06:41
American actor, director and founder of the Sundance Film Festival Robert Redford has passed away at the age of 89. His contribution to world cinema is hard to overestimate: from iconic roles in the 1970s to opening the world of independent cinema, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
Robert Redford died at his home in Utah, USA, in the early morning hours of September 16,
the New York Times reports, citing a statement by Cindy Berger, CEO of Rogers & Cowan PMK, an advertising firm. According to her, Redford died in his sleep.
She did not provide the cause of death.
Hollywood star of the 1970s
The Hollywood star’s film career lasted more than 60 years, during which he appeared in more than 50 films.
Redford became famous for his films, which later became classics of various genres: westerns, spy thrillers and melodramas.
His tandem with Paul Newman in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) made the actor a world star.
In 1973, the pair starred together again in The Affair, which became the standard for films about scams and fraud.
Heroes of many genres
Redford embodied the archetypes of various images of American cinema:
- in Jeremiah Johnson, he played a Wild West legend;
- in The Candidate, an idealistic politician;
- in All the President’s Men – a journalist investigating Watergate;
- in Three Days of the Condor – a hero of the Cold War;
- in The Great Gatsby – a romantic symbol of American literature.
Director’s success and the Oscar
In 1980, Redford made his debut as a director and immediately won an Academy Award. He received the award for his psychological drama Ordinary People in the Best Picture and Best Director categories. His directorial work has also been recognized with two Golden Globe Awards and one BAFTA Award.
Among his other works are Where the River Runs with a young Brad Pitt, The Horse Whisperer with Scarlett Johansson and TV Quiz with John Turturro.
“Sundance and the new wave of cinema
Robert Redford’s greatest contribution to the development of world cinema was the founding of the Sundance Institute in 1981, which is dedicated to the discovery, development and support of independent film and theater artists from around the world.
The story goes that Redford used his Hollywood earnings to buy land in the ski resort of Timber Haven in Utah. He renamed the place Sundance in honor of his movie character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and founded the Sundance Film Festival, dedicated to independent film and theater.
Thanks to Redford, the audience discovered Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Jim Jarmusch, Darren Aronofsky and many other directors who later became classics of world cinema.
Among the Ukrainian films that have won awards at the Sundance Film Festival are such well-known documentaries as Iryna Tsilyk’s The Earth Is Blue as an Orange, Mstislav Chernov’s Oscar-winning 20 Days in Mariupol and his second film 2000 Meters to Andriivka.
Later years
Redford continued to act even after announcing his retirement.
In 1995, Empire magazine ranked the actor 4th in the hundred sexiest stars in movie history. In 1997, the same magazine ranked Redford 29th in the list of the hundred most popular movie stars.
His last appearance on the screen was in the movie “The Avengers: Endgame” (2019). However, the drama Hope Will Not Fade (2013), where he played an old sailor fighting the elements, is considered a symbolic farewell to the actor.
Redford remains in history not only as an actor or director, but as a human institution that opened the way for a new generation of artists and became a symbol of hope for cinema.
