Robert Redford

Charles Robert Redford Jr. was born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, to Martha Woodruff Redford, née Hart, and Charles Robert Redford Sr., an accountant. The family lived in Van Nuys while his father worked in El Segundo, and Redford spent portions of his childhood traveling to Austin, Texas, to visit his maternal grandfather. He was of Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry. Redford attended Van Nuys High School, where his classmates included future professional baseball pitcher Don Drysdale. After graduating in 1954, he enrolled at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he joined Kappa Sigma fraternity, but lost his half-scholarship and was expelled following a period of heavy drinking. He subsequently traveled through France, Spain, and Italy before returning to the United States to study painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and dramatic arts at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan, graduating in 1959.

Redford's stage career began in New York City, where he made his Broadway debut in a small role in Tall Story in 1959. That same year he appeared in The Highest Tree, and in 1961 he took a part in Sunday in New York. He also appeared in Little Moon of Alban during his Broadway years, which ran from 1959 to 1963. His most prominent stage role came in 1963, when he played the stuffy newlywed husband opposite Elizabeth Ashley in the original cast of Neil Simon's comedy Barefoot in the Park. His stage work during this period earned him a Theatre World Award in 1962.

Alongside his theater work, Redford built an extensive television résumé beginning in the late 1950s, appearing in anthology and drama series including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Naked City, Maverick, The Untouchables, Perry Mason, Route 66, Dr. Kildare, and The Virginian, among others. He received an Emmy nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Voice of Charlie Pont in 1962. His screen debut came in the 1960 film adaptation of Tall Story, in which he reprised his Broadway role without receiving a screen credit. His second film role followed in War Hunt in 1962, and he subsequently appeared in Inside Daisy Clover in 1965, for which he won a Golden Globe for best new star.

Redford's film career accelerated significantly after his Broadway success. He appeared alongside Alec Guinness in Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious and co-starred with Natalie Wood and Charles Bronson in This Property Is Condemned in 1966. That same year he appeared in Arthur Penn's The Chase alongside Marlon Brando and Jane Fonda, marking the only time he shared the screen with Brando. The film version of Barefoot in the Park followed in 1967, again pairing him with Fonda. His casting as the Sundance Kid in George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969, opposite Paul Newman, established him as a major bankable star. He earned a BAFTA Award for that role. Further starring vehicles in the early 1970s included Downhill Racer, Jeremiah Johnson, The Candidate, and The Sting, the last of which brought him an Academy Award nomination.

Throughout the mid-to-late 1970s and into the 1980s, Redford continued to headline major productions, among them The Way We Were, The Great Gatsby, Three Days of the Condor, The Great Waldo Pepper, All the President's Men, The Electric Horseman, The Natural, and Out of Africa. Later acting credits included Sneakers, Indecent Proposal, An Unfinished Life, All Is Lost, Truth, Our Souls at Night, and The Old Man & the Gun. He also portrayed Alexander Pierce in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014 and Avengers: Endgame in 2019, the latter serving as his final on-screen role.

In addition to acting, Redford pursued a directing career, making his debut with the family drama Ordinary People in 1980, which won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. His subsequent directorial work included The Milagro Beanfield War, A River Runs Through It, Quiz Show, The Horse Whisperer, and The Legend of Bagger Vance. In 1978 he co-founded the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, becoming a significant advocate for independent cinema. Beyond filmmaking, Redford was recognized for his environmental activism and his support of Native American and Indigenous rights, as well as his advocacy for LGBTQ equality.

Among his career honors, Redford received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1996, the Academy Honorary Award in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2005, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, and the Honorary César in 2019. He also received five Golden Globe Awards, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, as well as an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. Redford died on September 16, 2025.