From Butch Cassidy to The Horse Whisperer, Redford’s brilliance on screen and dedication off it made him unforgettable.
In one of the most iconic final movie scenes, Paul Newman and Robert Redford decide to go out guns blazing as Bolivian troops corner them in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Newman (Butch Cassidy) turns to Redford (the Sundance Kid) just before the images freeze-frame over a soundtrack of a fusillade of bullets, to say: “For a moment there, I thought we were in trouble…”
The world won’t be in trouble, but it will be a poorer place for the loss of Redford, Hollywood’s “golden boy” and one of its most successful actors and directors.
He died yesterday, aged 89, apparently peacefully, in the mountains he loved, surrounded by people he loved.
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His honours board of movies – from The Candidate, All the President’s Men and The Way We Were, to his Best Director-winning Ordinary People and on to The Sting, Out of Africa and The Horse Whisperer – will have echoed through the lives of many moviegoers over the decades.
Apart from Newman, his co-stars included Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise.
In his later years, he became an outspoken supporter of environmental causes, as well as independent cinema.
While the world moves on, Redford left his mark on culture.
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