Legendary actor and director Robert Redford, known for his charm, talent, and advocacy work, has died at age 89.
Redford passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at his home at Sundance in the Utah mountains. “The place he loved, surrounded by those he loved. He will be missed greatly,” said his representative, Cindi Berger, in a statement to USA TODAY. “The family requests privacy.”
A 60-Year Hollywood career and unforgettable screen partners
Over more than six decades, Redford became one of Hollywood’s most recognizable and respected actors. He was known not only for his good looks and charisma, but also for his ability to shine alongside some of the biggest stars of his time.
He starred with Paul Newman in the 1969 Western classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and again in the Oscar-winning caper The Sting (1973), for which Redford earned a Best Actor nomination. He shared the screen with Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were (1973) and played journalist Bob Woodward opposite Dustin Hoffman in the acclaimed 1976 political thriller All the President’s Men.
‘The Natural’ and Redford’s connection to Buffalo
Robert Redford talks to reporters during a break in filming of “The Natural” in Buffalo’s War Memorial Stadium.
In 1984, Redford took on the role of Roy Hobbs, an aging baseball player in The Natural — a film now considered a sports movie classic.
While Rochester’s Silver Stadium was one of the locations considered for filming, Buffalo’s War Memorial Stadium (known as The Rockpile) was ultimately chosen.
Redford, along with co-star Glenn Close and a large crew, filmed in Buffalo for nearly a month during the summer of 1983.
Scores of local extras — including some from the Rochester area — appeared in scenes. The movie remains one of the most beloved films ever shot in western New York.
Behind the scenes: Redford as director and champion of independent film
Redford was just as influential off-screen. In 1981, he won an Academy Award for Best Director for Ordinary People, a poignant family drama. That same year, he founded the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting independent filmmakers, theater artists, and composers.
This led to the creation of the Sundance Film Festival, held annually in Park City, Utah. The festival helped launch the careers of many renowned directors including Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith, and Paul Thomas Anderson.
Looking back on a life well lived
In a 2018 interview with USA TODAY ahead of the release of The Old Man & the Gun, Redford reflected on his long career:
“You know, you get to a point where you live a career, you live a life where you’re constantly moving forward and you don’t think about looking back,” he said. “And you get to be a certain age where you become more philosophical – that’s when you start to look back and go, ‘Boy, that was a mistake’ and ‘Well, that was OK.’ And I think that’s probably where I am.”
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Robert Redford dead at 89: Legacy includes Buffalo-filmed ‘The Natural’
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