A look at the life, career and activism of legendary actor Robert Redford

Geoff Bennett:

Robert Redford, a screen-legend filmmaker, environmentalist, and tireless champion of independent voices in cinema, has died.

Amna Nawaz:

Revered for his magnetic presence on screen in classics like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Sting," and "All the President's Men," Redford's legacy is as much about art as it is about integrity.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown has this remembrance.

Robert Redford, Actor:

Get away from me. I want to fight them!

Jeffrey Brown:

He had the looks, the charisma, the talent. Robert Redford was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood history, appearing in more than 50 films, directing others, and using his fame to promote causes dear to him, the environment and independent filmmaking.

In 2018, he reflected on his life and work when I sat down with Sissy Spacek and him at the Toronto International Film Festival to talk about their film "The Old Man and the Gun," which Redford had announced would be his last leading role.

Robert Redford:

If I told you, you probably wouldn't want to see me again.

Sissy Spacek, Actress:

Who said I was going to see you again?

Robert Redford:

Would you?

The first project I ever did, to tell you how my beginning was, was a "Perry Mason" TV show back in 1959.

It looks like he put up a little fight. What's that?

Raymond Burr, Actor:

Looks like hair from a wig.

Robert Redford:

And the title was "The Case of the Tortured Toupee."

(Laughter)

Robert Redford:

I still don't know what that meant. But, anyway, that was my first job.

Jeffrey Brown:

But you remember that.

Robert Redford:

Uphill from there.

Jeffrey Brown:

His first triumph came on Broadway in 1963 with Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park," a role he brought to the screen four years later opposite Jane Fonda.

Jane Fonda, Actress:

Paul, if the honeymoon doesn't work out, let's not get divorced. Let's kill each other.

Robert Redford:

Let's have one of the maids do it. I hear the service here is wonderful.

Paul Newman, Actor:

We will jump.

Robert Redford:

Like hell we will.

Jeffrey Brown:

Major stardom came in 1969 as the Sundance Kid, a sly, charming outlaw, partner to Paul Newman in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

(Shouting)

Jeffrey Brown:

From there, fans can reel off a list of favorites, among them, in 1973, "The Way We Were" with Barbra Streisand and "The Sting" again with Newman, for which Redford received his one and only Oscar nomination for acting.

Robert Redford:

This is Bob Woodward of The Washington Post.

Jeffrey Brown:

'76 as journalist Bob Woodward to Dustin Hoffman's Carl Bernstein, breaking news of the Watergate scandal.

Robert Redford:

Our faith in ourselves and our faith in our country.

Jeffrey Brown:

Other standouts, "The Candidate," "The Great Gatsby," "Three Days of the Condor," "The Natural."

Redford also stepped behind the camera in 1980. His first effort, "Ordinary People," about a family grieving the loss of a child, won Oscars for best picture and best director for Redford.

Mary Tyler Moore, Actress:

I can't stand it. I really can't.

Timothy Hutton, Actor:

Well, don't then. Go to Europe.

Jeffrey Brown:

Later films he helmed included "A River Runs Through It" in 1992 and "Quiz Show" in '94, which also earned nominations for best film and director.

Redford, who was born in 1936 in Santa Monica, California, traced his path back to his childhood and the magic of going to the movies.

Robert Redford:

I grew up in a lower working-class neighborhood, and so the only entertainment we had, there was no television at that time, it was radio, that you would walk to a local theater and see a movie. And so what I remembered was the joy of leaving this life you were forced to lead and going to a room that was suddenly dark with a lot of people that you knew sitting there with you.

And all the lights would go down. Then something would come on the screen that was fresh and new that took you out of where you were. And I think that made a strong impact on me, the value of that, which I think is why I was eventually drawn to film.

Jeffrey Brown:

Beyond the big screen, Redford became known as a passionate environmentalist, taking up causes especially in his adopted home of Utah. And his most lasting legacy may be The Sundance Institute, first born out of his effort to preserve land, later transformed into a haven for independent filmmakers, home to one of the world's leading film festivals for documentaries and dramas.

Robert Redford:

We are here to support the filmmakers.

Jeffrey Brown:

Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, Ava DuVernay, just a few of the many filmmakers who first broke through at Sundance before becoming major artists in their own right.

Robert Redford:

You know, there are other stories out there to be told, and they're not being given a chance. How about starting something that you create a mechanism for people to come and not only develop their stories, but then have a place to go? That led to the festival.

Sissy Spacek:

I just want to say, this guy's done more for independent film than anybody I have ever heard of.

Jeffrey Brown:

Yes.

Robert Redford:

I think the idea is that if you're lucky enough to have some success, what are you going to do with it?

Jeffrey Brown:

Today, tributes flowed. Filmmaker Ron Howard called Redford "a tremendously influential cultural figure."

Meryl Streep, a co-star in "Out of Africa," said: "One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace, my lovely friend."

Numerous other social media posts echoed similar sentiments.

Robert Redford:

Step on it.

Jeffrey Brown:

After playing an aging, but still very charming bank robber in "The Old Man and the Gun," Redford spoke of coming to the end of his career.

Robert Redford:

When you're thinking about leaving, when you're thinking about having the end of a career in terms of acting, you want to go out on something that's upbeat and fun, fun to do.

Jeffrey Brown:

This movie is a real meditation on aging, is it not, how to age gracefully, what to do as you age?

Robert Redford:

I don't spend a lot of time thinking about that.

Jeffrey Brown:

You don't?

Robert Redford:

I think the character doesn't think about it either. He just goes about what he loves doing.

Jeffrey Brown:

Actor, director, champion of the environment, and independent filmmaking.

You're clearly proud of what you created.

Robert Redford:

I am.

Jeffrey Brown:

Robert Redford died at home in the mountains of Utah. No cause was given. He was 89 years old.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown.