Paul Newman spoke up for him

He was born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California. He didn't really enjoy school, preferring art and sports - he liked American football, tennis and baseball.

After graduating from high school, a sports scholarship allowed him to study at Colorado University, but he was expelled due to heavy drinking.

Redford therefore decided to travel around Europe - he spent time in France, Spain and Italy. After returning to the US, he studied painting and acting.

In 1959, he made his Broadway debut with a small role in the play Tall Story, followed by appearances in The Highest Tree (1959) and Sunday in New York (1961).

His breakthrough role in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park brought him great success. In the early 1960s, he guest-starred in a number of television series: Whispering Smith, Maverick, Route 66, The Twilight Zone, Dr. Kildare, The Virginian, and The Virginian.

He made his screen debut in a role he had previously played on Broadway in the aforementioned Tall Story. The film was not only a debut for him, but also for Jane Fonda, another budding actress who would later become a star.

His role as a bisexual movie star in the romantic musical drama What's Daisy Clover? earned Redford his first Golden Globe.

In 1969, his career took a turn when he landed one of the leading roles in the western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, opposite Paul Newman. Although he was not the director's first choice, Newman himself spoke up for him.

"He said, 'I want to work with an actor.' And that was a huge compliment to me because that's how we both saw our profession, acting for us was about skill and we both took it seriously," recalled Redford, who almost immediately became one of the most popular actors in Hollywood.

In the following period, he appeared in films such as The Stolen Diamond (1972), The Candidate (1972), Jeremiah Johnson (1972) and That's How We Were (1973). He reunited with Paul Newman on the set of The Imitation Game, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and earned Redford his only nomination for Best Actor.

His career continued to progress - he appeared in films such as The Great Gatsby (1974), The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), Three Days of the Condor (1975), All the President's Men (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Indecent Proposal (1993) and The Horse Whisperer (1998).

Out of Africa (1985), in which he starred with Meryl Streep, turned seven of his eleven nominations into Oscars. More recent films include Charlotte's Web (2006), the intense drama All Is Lost (2013), in which he was the only actor, the Marvel film Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and the adventure fantasy My Friend the Dragon (2016).

Founder of the Sundance Film Festival

Redford began his directing career in 1980 with the adaptation of Judith Guest's novel Ordinary People. His debut earned him two Oscars - for Best Picture and Best Director.

He subsequently made several other films: The Beanstalk (1988), This Way Comes (1992), Questions and Answers (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998), The Legend of the Glorious Return (2000), Heroes and Cowards (2007), The Conspirator (2010) and The Rules of Silence (2012).

Film selection

• Barefoot in the Park (1967)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
• The Candidate (1972)
• All the President's Men (1976)
• Out of Africa (1985)
• Indecent Proposal (1993)
• The Horse Whisperer (1998)
• Charlotte's Web (2006)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
• Gentleman with a Gun (2018)

In 1980, he founded Sundance, which became the largest international independent film festival in the country.

"We started it without any strict expectations... I have no idea what it will end up being. I know it's getting harder and harder to get good distribution in this country for a film unless it has the potential to make millions of dollars," he admitted to critic Roger Ebert, who first visited the festival in 1981.

In a 2005 interview with People magazine, Redford said his goal was to showcase"the development process for new voices in film, to create a place to work without the constraints of mainstream filmmaking, which was moving toward big-budget, youth-oriented films." Today, it is one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world.

Robert Redford has also been active in activism - he was a supporter of the rights of Native Americans and the LGBT community, and was also a passionate advocate for environmental issues. He is the recipient of two Oscars, three Golden Globes, and one Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2016, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Despite his fame, Redford kept his privacy a secret throughout his life. He was married to historian and activist Lola Van Wagenen for over 25 years, with whom he had four children.

Their firstborn, Scott, died at two months old from sudden infant death syndrome. Their other son, James, who was a screenwriter and producer, died in 2020 at the age of 58 from bile duct cancer.

Redford's daughters are active in the artistic field - Shauna is a painter and Amy is involved in acting, directing, and producing.

In 2009, Redford married his longtime girlfriend Sibylle Szaggars.