Robert Redford

(18 August 1936 to 16 September 2025)

In the wake of a violent death in Utah, another quietly slipped away in the Beehive State; Robert Redford, one of the last of the old school movie stars. He was not a particularly good natural actor but in the right role he could shine, and his directorial work was outstanding. On screen, he projected clean calm integrity – a look that Variety described as “strawberry blond California-born sun god”. He also campaigned for environmental causes and in the 1980s created the Sundance Film Festival that fostered a whole generation of interesting filmmakers.

Whilst his most famous films (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Way We Were) were monster hits, we prefer the following (including what may be his best acting ever, hardly dialogued, in All Is Lost):

Barefoot in the Park (1967)

Downhill Racer (1969)

The Candidate (1972)

The Great Gatsby (1974)

Three Days of the Condor (1975) [see main image]

All the President’s Men (1976)

Ordinary People (1980) (Dir.)

Sneakers (1992)

Quiz Show (1994) (Dir.)

All is Lost (2013)