"You go first, Butch"--and Paul Newman did (in 2008); this morning, the sundance kid--Robert Redford took the leap--he dies in his sleep--at 89 (video)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Cliff Jump Scene

By Grand Rapids Anonymous
tuesday, september 16, 2025 at 9:16:00 a.m. edt

"You go first, Butch"--and Paul Newman did (in 2008); this morning, the sundance kid--Robert Redford took the leap--he dies in his sleep--at 89

GRA: For a while, starting in 1969--until the 1980s, or thereabouts--Robert Redford was part of a group of new leading man types (with Nicholson, Pacino, Beatty, Ford, De Niro, Hoffman and Hackman) who brought us some pretty good movies over the years. Newman had been around for over ten years at that point. Their flicks were always worth a look.

“(nbc noise) Charles Robert Redford Jr. was born Aug. 18, 1936, in the beachside community of Santa Monica, California, to Martha Hart and Charles Robert Redford Sr., a milkman turned oil company accountant.

“The younger Redford described himself as a poor student who was more interested in the arts and athletics. He graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1954 and briefly attended the university of Colorado Boulder. [N.S.: I heard that he went to Boulder on a baseball scholarship, as a pitcher, but drank it away.] He later ambled around Europe, soaking up the culture in France, Spain, and Italy.

“He eventually moved to New York City, enrolling in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in the play Tall Story (1959) and went on to appear in several popular television shows of the early 1960s, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone.

“Redford’s most high-profile theatrical performance from the period was opposite Elizabeth Ashley in the original Broadway run of Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park (1963), playing the uptight newlywed Paul.

[N.S.: The movie version of Barefoot in the Park (1967) was so magical that almost 60 years later, I still recall Jane Fonda writing “Bratter Lovers” on the mailbox of their Washington Square apartment in Greenwich Village, and Redford walking barefoot through a snow-covered Washington Square Park on a winter's day, during a crisis with Corie. Fonda was never more charming. Charles Boyer was also charming as the Bratters' bon vivant, French apartment building neighbor, who sweeps Mildred Natwick, one of the Bratters' mother, off her feet. Natwick was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Neal Hefti's score was also lovely, though it unfortunately led to a series of jobs in which he was hired to compose scores for New York-set movies, in which his music became increasingly generic (e.g., Madigan (1968). Barefoot would inspire the successful sitcom, Dharma and Greg (1997-2002), about a conventional corporate lawyer (Thomas Gibson) and his hippyish wife (Jenna Elfman). Although Fonda has said of Redford, “I couldn't keep my hands off him," she expects people to believe that she and Redford never fooled around. They had worked together in the vehicle for The Bum the previous year, The Chase, and would put their chemistry to work aqgain in The Electric Horseman (1979), and a TV movie, Our Souls at Night (2017).]

“Barefoot in the Park catapulted Redford to supporting roles in movies, including the off-kilter Alec Guinness comedy Situation Hopeless … But Not Serious (1965) and the show business tale Inside Daisy Clover (1965), starring Natalie Wood.

“Inside Daisy Clover handed Redford his first Golden Globe (for best new star), and the actor earned wider attention co-starring with Jane Fonda in both the prison break yarn The Chase (1966) and the 1967 big-screen version of Barefoot in the Park.

“Redford reached a career turning point in 1969 with George Roy Hill’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He was the sharp-shooting Sundance Kid to Paul Newman’s quick-witted Butch Cassidy, two charming Wild West outlaws trying to make their way to Bolivia.

“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, anchored by one of the most electric star pairings in Hollywood history, conquered the box office and won over critics. Redford was suddenly a bankable leading man with his pick of projects — and legions of admirers across the country.

“The same year, Redford starred as a relentless skier in Downhill Racer and a lawman in Tell Them Willie Boy is Here. He followed those parts with turns as a motorcyclist in Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970) and a jewel thief in The Hot Rock (1972), but both movies fizzled at the box office.

[N.S.: The Hot Rock did not bomb.]

“The Candidate, a political satire [sic] starring Redford as a callow U.S. Senate aspirant, performed respectably and collected largely positive reviews.

“Redford’s next several projects were among his most commercially successful, lighting up multiplex ticket booths and cementing his status as one of the key A-list performers of the era.

“He captivated audiences as a rugged mountain man in Sydney Pollack’s Jeremiah Johnson (1972) and Barbra Streisand’s romantic partner in The Way We Were (1973). He teamed again with Paul Newman and director George Roy Hill for the light-hearted caper The Sting (1973).

--GRA


Redford was a climate-change nut-job, and a de Niro-like Trump-hater
By Grand Rapids Anonymous
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 12:23:00 p.m. edt

Redford was a climate-change nut-job, and a de Niro-like Trump-hater

“September 16, 2025 (bbc) We've just briefly heard from US President Donald Trump, who was told of Robert Redford's death by reporters just before boarding Marine One to begin his trip to the U.K.

“'Robert Redford had a series of years where there was nobody better,' Trump said. 'There was a period of time when he was the hottest. I thought he was great."

“Trump did not address Redford's previous criticism of Trump, who he described as 'dictator-like' in a column [ghost-]written for nbc in 2019.

“'Our shared tolerance and respect for the truth, our sacred rule of law, our essential freedom of the press and our precious freedoms of speech — all have been threatened by a single man,' Redford wrote at the time, during Trump's first term as president.

GRA: He 100% believed in climate change, as well. Personally, I would have probably argued with him non-stop, but he did star in some excellent movies. --GRA


By Grand Rapids Anonymous
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 7:01:00 p.m. edt abc finally got it right, by calling him an icon. Probably the 1,000th time they've used the term on World Noise Tonight this year.

--GRA