100 Amazing Facts About Robert Redford

Charles Robert Redford Jr. (August 18, 1936 – September 16, 2025) has passed away at the age of 89. Beloved around the world, Redford was more than a movie star — he was a director, producer, activist, and the guiding spirit behind the Sundance Film Festival. His life was filled with art, activism, family, and storytelling. To celebrate his extraordinary journey, here are 100 amazing facts about Robert Redford.

1. Robert Redford was born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California.
2. His full name was Charles Robert Redford Jr.
3. His mother was Martha Woodruff Redford, originally from Austin, Texas.
4. His father, Charles Robert Redford Sr., worked as an accountant.
5. Redford had a paternal half-brother named William.
6. He was of Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry.
7. His patrilineal great-great-grandfather Elisha Redford emigrated from England to the U.S. in 1849.
8. On his mother’s side, the Harts were Irish from Galway.
9. His maternal Green ancestors were Scotch-Irish settlers in the U.S. during the 18th century.
10. As a child, he often traveled to Texas to visit his maternal grandfather.
11. These Texas visits shaped his environmentalism and love of nature.
12. His family lived in Van Nuys while his father worked in El Segundo.
13. He attended Van Nuys High School.
14. His classmates included baseball pitcher Don Drysdale.
15. As a student, Redford admitted he was “bad” in school but loved art and sports.
16. He played tennis at the Los Angeles Tennis Club with champion Pancho Gonzalez.
17. At age 11, he had a mild case of polio.
18. He graduated high school in 1954.
19. He attended the University of Colorado in Boulder.
20. He joined the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
21. He worked at a bar called The Sink, where his likeness still appears in a mural.
22. He lost his half-scholarship and was expelled from Colorado due to heavy drinking.
23. Afterward, he traveled in Europe, living in France, Spain, and Italy.
24. He studied painting at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
25. He later studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Class of 1959.
26. Redford made his Broadway debut in Tall Story in 1959.
27. He acted in The Highest Tree (1959) and Sunday in New York (1961).
28. His Broadway breakthrough was Barefoot in the Park (1963).
29. He starred opposite Elizabeth Ashley in that production.
30. His first film role was in Tall Story (1960).
31. He earned an Emmy nomination for The Voice of Charlie Pont in 1962.
32. His first screen role was in War Hunt (1962).
33. He co-starred with Alec Guinness in Situation Hopeless…But Not Serious (1965).
34. He won a Golden Globe for Inside Daisy Clover (1965).
35. He reunited with Natalie Wood in This Property Is Condemned (1966).
36. He starred in Arthur Penn’s The Chase with Jane Fonda and Marlon Brando in 1966.
37. He reprised his stage success in the film version of Barefoot in the Park (1967).
38. He refused roles in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate.
39. His breakout role was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).
40. He played the Sundance Kid opposite Paul Newman’s Butch Cassidy.
41. He won a BAFTA Award for that role.
42. He also starred in Downhill Racer (1969).
43. He appeared in Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969).
44. He starred in Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970).
45. He appeared in The Hot Rock (1972).
46. Redford also produced Downhill Racer in 1969.
47. He starred in The Candidate (1972), a political satire.
48. He headlined Jeremiah Johnson (1972).
49. He starred with Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were (1973).
50. He reunited with Paul Newman in The Sting (1973).
51. The Sting earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
52. He starred in The Great Gatsby (1974).
53. In 1974, he became the first actor since Bing Crosby to have three top-ten films in one year.
54. He was voted Hollywood’s top box-office star from 1974 to 1976.
55. He starred in The Great Waldo Pepper (1975).
56. He starred in Three Days of the Condor (1975).
57. He produced and starred in All the President’s Men (1976).
58. The film portrayed journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
59. It won the New York Film Critics Award for Best Picture.
60. In 1976, he published The Outlaw Trail: A Journey Through Time.
61. He appeared in A Bridge Too Far (1977).
62. He starred with Jane Fonda again in The Electric Horseman (1979).
63. His directorial debut was Ordinary People (1980).
64. Ordinary People won four Academy Awards.
65. Redford won the Oscar for Best Director for that film.
66. He starred in Brubaker (1980).
67. He headlined The Natural (1984).
68. He starred opposite Meryl Streep in Out of Africa (1985).
69. Out of Africa won seven Academy Awards.
70. He starred in Legal Eagles (1986).
71. He directed The Milagro Beanfield War (1988).
72. He directed A River Runs Through It (1992).
73. The film starred a young Brad Pitt.
74. He directed Quiz Show (1994).
75. Quiz Show was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.
76. He starred in Indecent Proposal (1993).
77. He co-starred with Michelle Pfeiffer in Up Close & Personal (1996).
78. He directed and starred in The Horse Whisperer (1998).
79. He starred in Havana (1990).
80. He acted in Sneakers (1992).
81. He directed The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000).
82. He starred in The Last Castle (2001).
83. He reunited with Brad Pitt in Spy Game (2001).
84. He narrated the IMAX documentary Sacred Planet (2004).
85. He produced The Motorcycle Diaries (2004).
86. He starred in An Unfinished Life (2005).
87. He directed and starred in Lions for Lambs (2007).
88. He directed The Conspirator (2010).
89. He directed and starred in The Company You Keep (2012).
90. He starred in All Is Lost (2013), with almost no dialogue.
91. He played Alexander Pierce in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
92. He portrayed Dan Rather in Truth (2015).
93. He starred in Pete’s Dragon (2016).
94. He appeared in The Discovery (2017).
95. He reunited with Jane Fonda in Our Souls at Night (2017).
96. He starred in The Old Man & the Gun (2018).
97. He briefly reprised Alexander Pierce in Avengers: Endgame (2019).
98. He was an executive producer of the TV series Dark Winds.
99. He co-founded the Sundance Institute in 1981.
100. He died peacefully at home in Provo, Utah, on September 16, 2025, at age 89.