Robert Redford

10/97: Ranked #29 in Empire magazines "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

1995: Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#4).

Father of Shauna Redford (born on 15 November 1960), James Redford (born on 15 May 1962) and Amy Redford (born on 22 October 1970). His oldest son Scott was born in 1959 and died shortly after from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

German painter Sibylle Szaggars has been his longtime companion since 1996.

Was considered for the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather .

He received a chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (knight) for his work through the Sundance Institute, promoting independent film.

Mentioned in the theme song of the 1980s TV hit "The Fall Guy" .

Lost out on the role of Ben Braddock in The Graduate because director Mike Nichols didnt think anyone would believe Redford would have trouble getting "the girl".

In the early 1970s Paramount had plans to remake Double Indemnity with Redford in the Fred MacMurray role. The project never got off the ground.

He is a national member of Kappa Sigma, the fraternity he was member of while attending the University of Colorado.

He was pitcher on the University of Colorado baseball team, before losing his scholarship due to drinking.

Has done 11 period pieces, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , The Sting , The Natural and Out of Africa .

He is the founder of the Sundance Film Festival, which he named after his character from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid .

He and famed Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale were in the same high school graduating class (Van Nuys High School, Class of 1954).

Has appeared in seven movies dealing with adultery in some form or another: The Way We Were , The Great Gatsby , Out of Africa , Havana (1990/I) , Indecent Proposal , The Horse Whisperer , and The Clearing .

2004: In addition to being the graduation speaker for Bard Colleges 144th Commencement, he also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the college.

Was given a fishing rod in lieu of the agreed $75 payment for his first professional acting appearance, on a TV game show.

He was voted the 30th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Alumni of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA).

Is of Cornish, Irish, Scottish, and English descent.

Was originally attached to The Verdict , but dropped out prior to production because he didnt want the character to be "such a loser". Director Sidney Lumet was dismayed by Redfords demands to change the script. The role of Frank Galvin was taken over by his friend Paul Newman , who won an Oscar nomination.

After his suggestions of Warren Beatty , Alain Delon and Burt Reynolds to play the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather were rejected by Francis Ford Coppola , Paramount production chief Robert Evans suggested Redford. When Coppola demurred, preferring his first choice of Tony Awar-winning Broadway actor Al Pacino , Evans explained that Redford could fit the role as he could be perceived as "northern Italian." Evans lost the struggle, Pacino was cast and a star was born.

Dislikes watching his own films. The only film in which he was completely satisfied with his own performance was The Sting .

2005: Premiere Magazine ranked him as #17 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature.

He is an environmental conservationist and often advocates and supports natural causes.

Along with Warren Beatty , Clint Eastwood , Mel Gibson , Richard Attenborough and Kevin Costner one of six people to win and Academy Award for Best Director, though they are mainly known as actors.

During his senior year at Van Nuys High School, he met 15-year old sophomore Natalie Wood , who was already a star. Later in life, they starred together in Inside Daisy Clover and This Property Is Condemned and became good friends. She also played herself in a cameo in his film The Candidate .

2005: Recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. Other recipients were Tina Turner , Tony Bennett , Suzanne Farrell and Julie Harris.

1996: Awarded the American National Medal of the Arts by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington, DC.

His performance as the Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is ranked #20 on the American Film Institutes 100 Heroes & Villains. This is a ranking he shares with Paul Newman , who portrayed Butch Cassidy.

His performance as Bob Woodward in All the Presidents Men is ranked #27 on the American Film Institutes 100 Heroes & Villains. This is a ranking he shares with Dustin Hoffman , who portrayed Carl Bernstein.

In Germany he shares his dubbing voice with Patrick Stewart and Sir Anthony Hopkins.

1970s: Considered running for the U.S. Senate seat in his home state of Utah.

He often did his own stunts in action sequences but made sure the stunt men who were hired for it were paid, so as not to put anyone out of work.

Turned down the leading roles in Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , The Graduate , Rosemarys Baby , Love Story and The Day of the Jackal .

He set up the Sundance Film Institute in Utah for independent filmmakers and in 1997 announced the creation of Sundance Cinemas, a venture with a major distributer to set up a chain of theaters for the screening of independent films. As of 2011, at least two are open.

2002: Awarded an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement as the creator of Sundance, an inspiration to independent and innovative filmmakers everywhere.

Lifelong friends with Sydney Pollack both men having made their feature film acting debuts in War Hunt .

1960: He spent his last $500 on two acres of land in Utah, an investment that would ultimately grow to 5,000 acres becoming home to his Sundance Institute. Redford purchase Timp Haven (ski resort) in 1969 and changed the name to Sundance Ski Resort which began operating under Redfords environmentally friendly policies. Sundance is located at the base of Utahs picturesque Mt. Timpanogos and in 1981 Redford formed the Sundance Institute and later the Sundance Film Festival which became too large for Sundance Ski Resort and was moved primarily to Park City, Utah.

Turned down the role in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice .

Born to Charles Robert Redford Sr., an accountant, and his wife Martha W. Hart.

Ranked #53 in Empire Magazines 100 Sexiest Movie Stars of all time.

Appeared in 7 movies that were directed by Sydney Pollack : This Property Is Condemned , Jeremiah Johnson , The Way We Were , Three Days of the Condor , The Electric Horseman , Out of Africa and Havana (1990/I) . They also both appeared in War Hunt .

Directed 4 actors in Oscar nominated performances: Mary Tyler Moore , Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People, and Paul Scofield in Quiz Show. Hutton won for his performance in Ordinary People .

Lyrics to Mel Tillis song "Coca Cola Cowboy" refer to "an Eastwood smile and Robert Redford hair".

Married his longtime girlfriend, 51-year-old Sibylle Szaggars in Germany on July 11, 2009 at Louis C. Jacob hotel.

Father-in-law of Eric Schlosser.

As a guest on "Inside the Actors Studio" (30 Jan. 2005), Redford confessed to host James Lipton that his favorite and least favorite words were, respectively, "Possible" and "Whatever".

Robert Young , who was a star at MGM in the 1930s and starred in the TV series "Father Knows Best" and "Marcus Welby MD", was a cousin of his mother.

Like his dear friend Paul Newman , both men had firstborn sons named Scott who predeceased their fathers.

Grandfather of Anna Michaela Schlosser and Conor James Schlosser (born July 29, 1992) (children of daughter Shauna Redford and Eric Schlosser ), Dylan Larson Redford and Lena Redford (born 1996) (children of son James Redford and Kyle Smith) and Eden Hart August (born 2008) (daughter of daughter Amy Redford and Matt August).

As of 2014, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , The Sting , All the Presidents Men and Out of Africa . Of those, The Sting and Out of Africa are winners in the category. And in addition, directed two more films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Quiz Show and the winner Ordinary People .

One of Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People in the World. [April 2014].

He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners, The Sting and Out of Africa , and directed another, Ordinary People .

His daughter, Shauna, was in a relationship with Sid Wells for three years until he was murdered on August 1, 1983. The suspect, roommate Thayne Smika, has been on the run since 1986 over theft charges. The first grand jury did not issue an indictment for murder believed to be a result of misconduct by the district attorney. After a cold case investigation in December 2010 an arrest warrant for the murder was issued. This was featured on The Hunt With John Walsh, which aired on August 10, 2014.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is his favorite film.

He and his A Bridge Too Far co-star Laurence Olivier are the only people to act in and direct different Academy Award for Best Picture winners: (1) Olivier played Maximilian de Winter in Rebecca and directed Hamlet , in which he also played the title role and Redford played Johnny Hooker in The Sting and Denys Finch Hatton in Out of Africa and directed Ordinary People .

Along with Delbert Mann , Jerome Robbins , James L. Brooks , Kevin Costner and Sam Mendes , he is one of only six people to win the Academy Award for Best Director for their directorial debut: Mann for Marty , Robbins for West Side Story (which he co-directed with Robert Wise ), Redford for Ordinary People , Brooks for Terms of Endearment , Costner for Dances with Wolves and Mendes for American Beauty .

Redford and his films were spoofed in "Cracked" magazine as "Rollicking with Redford," which was reproduced in the mass-market paperback "Half-Crackd" by Dell in 1974.

He appeared in five films written by William Goldman : Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , The Hot Rock , The Great Waldo Pepper , All the Presidents Men and A Bridge Too Far .

He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian award, by President Barack Obama , in a live televised ceremony held in the East Room of the White House, on November 22, 2016, along with twenty other recipients, the the largest, and final Medal of Freedom ceremony of Obamas presidency. At this ceremony, the twenty-one recipients, in alphabetical order, included: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , Elouise Cobell (posthumous award given to her son), Ellen DeGeneres , Robert De Niro , Richard Garwin , Bill Gates , Melinda Gates , Frank Gehry , Margaret Hamilton (as Margaret H. Hamilton), Tom Hanks , Rear Admiral Grace Hopper (posthumous award given to her niece), Michael Jordan , Maya Lin , Lorne Michaels , Newton Minow , Eduardo Padron (as Eduardo Padrn), Robert Redford , Diana Ross , Vin Scully , Bruce Springsteen , and Cicely Tyson.

[on his appearance in Havana (1990/I) ] All everyone talked about,was aging. It took me by surprise because I have not thought of myself,that way. I assumed I would age naturally, as time went on.

A lot of what acting is, is paying attention.

Storytellers broaden our minds: engage, provoke, inspire, and,ultimately, connect us.

[on filming All Is Lost (2013) ] It was a bold and pure cinematic,experience. It was stripped to the bone and I found that very,appealing. . Being wet all day was the hardest thing. You get depressed,being wet all the time.

Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better.

I have the freedom to take chances, to say no. I have the freedom to be who I really want to be, rather than have to conform to this or that just to stay alive.

I spent two summers working at Camp Curry and at Yosemite Lodge as a waiter. It gave me a chance to really be there every day - to hike up to Vernal Falls or Nevada Falls. It just took me really deep into it. Yosemite claimed me.

I am a cynical optimist. Big opening weekends are like cotton candy. The films you will remember over time are the films that stick in the consciousness of the audience in a good way.

I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend?.