Actor Robert Redford, cinema icon died

Robert Redfordthe actor who won an Oscar for directing the film Ordinary People and that later became the godfather of independent cinema as founder of the Sunday Film Institutehe died at 89.

Cindi Bergerexecutive director of the advertising firm Rogers & Cowan PMK, shared the news in statements to the New York Times. He indicated that Redford died while sleeping on Tuesday at his home in Utah, but did not specify the cause of his death.

The actor turned into director, who had a star career in films such as Butch Cassidy and The Sunday Kid, as we were, the coup, the three days of the condor and all the men of the presidentHe had worked less frequently in front of both the camera in recent years.

His last work as an actor on screen was with a small participation in Avengers: Endgamein which he repeated his role by Secretary Alexander Pierce.

Robert Redford’s extensive trajectory

As of 1959, Redford alternated his time between television, appearing in programs such as Perry Mason, Playhouse 90, Alfred Hitchcock Present and The Twilight Zoneand acting on the New York stage, in productions such as Tall Storyyour theatrical debut, and Barefoot in the Park (1963) of Neil Simonrepeating this last role in the 1967 Hollywood version next to Jane Fonda.

He made his film debut in War Hunt of 1962, in which he appeared with another young actor, Pollack, who would eventually lead Redford in seven films, including Out of Afric and The Electric Horseman.

After co -starring two films with Natalie Wood –Inside Daisy Clover (1965), a rugged story about Hollywood stars creation machinery, and This property is condemned (1966), his first collaboration with director Pollack – Redford’s revolutionary role was that of Kid Kid of Butch Cassidy, of Paul Newmanin what would become the highest grossing film in 1969.

In 1972, The Hot Rock and The candidate They provided him with solid papers before a series of films that made him a superstar.

Starting with the successful western Jeremiah Johnsonhe met Newman and obtained an Oscar nomination for The blowchosen by the Academy as the best 1973 film, becoming the number one box office star during the next three years. Also in 1973, he consolidated his role as a romantic protagonist with Barbra Streisand In such as we were. “Despite the little enthusiastic criticisms, he raised 50 million dollars and consolidated his laureate reputation.

Among its subsequent leaders are included The Great Gatsby, the three days of the condor and all the president’s menof which Redford was an executive producer, starred and directed from the initial phase of the manuscript of the successful book of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The film accumulated eight Oscar nominations, losing the top award before Rocky.

At its peak in the 70s, few actors possessed the stellar power of Redford, with the considerable help of his disheveled blond hair, his granite jaw and his dazzling smile. With its environmental activism, its anti -system approach in the cinema and its pioneering efforts to provide a platform to independent filmmakers, Redford knew how to use their fame to subvert the status quo and boost its own creative agenda.

In the 1980s and 1990s, he played more mature roles, from the medium -sized baseball player of The natural even the free animal hunter in Out of Africa and the rich and insensitive player in INDECENT PROPOSAL.

Redford’s rise to the top was even more notable given his predilection for distant, sardonic and even thorny characters. In films like This property is convicted, Downhill Racer and tell him that Willie Boy is herehe played impenitent villains, and even so, his charisma was undeniable.

Robert Redford’s importance for independent cinema

In addition to Redford’s status as one of Hollywood’s most wanted protagonists during much of the 70s and 80s, the Sundance Film Institute and the festival that bears his name can be considered an equally significant legacy.

What began as a modest filmmakers laboratory became synonymous with the independent cinema revolution, while the festival that bears his name would be transformed into the most important film event in the US. UU. For both emerging filmmakers and for procurement executives.

“I think the activist cinema has a role to play”Redford declared to the Variety portal in 2002, “and should have it. I think it is totally appropriate to focus on the sociocultural problems of our time, particularly in documentaries, since the truth seems more difficult to find in the traditional media of communication and journalism.”