Remembering Robert Redford: How to watch 11 of the beloved actor’s most memorable performances

By LINDSEY BAHR Associated Press When you re a larger-than-life generation-spanning star like Robert Redford the hard truth is that every movie is notable in specific way He was iconic in his own time whether in front of the camera or behind it And in his lifetime so multiple of his films transcended their original reviews to find passionate fanbases Just ask older millennials about the hacker movie Sneakers or the Sex and the City generation about The Way We Were RELATED I was inevitably in love with Robert Redford Jane Fonda on her co-star friend Redford died Tuesday at leaving behind an arsenal of great roles that he owned whether he was playing a quiet CIA agent a con man a baseball athlete a grizzled mariner an ambitious journalist or a charming WASP in love You could make a feast out of his Sydney Pollack collaborations alone staring with Jeremiah Johnson streaming on Tubi a classic that also took on a surprising afterlife as a meme that became so popular younger generations didn t even realize it was Redford behind that beard His very last role came this year a cameo in Dark Winds the AMC show about Navajo police officers he produced This is a list of particular of Redford s the greater part memorable performances but don t forget about the films he directed too among them are the all-timers Ordinary People streaming on MGM which won him the best director Oscar and Quiz Show rent on Apple TV which got him another nod Barefoot in the Park Redford and Jane Fonda play a passionate but mismatched newlywed couple whose relationship is tested by their walk-up New York apartment in this Neil Simon comedy Reprising the role he d played on Broadway Redford is the uptight conservative foil to her more free-spirited character and they re both stunningly beautiful and fun to watch Fonda communicated The Guardian in that she was reliably in love with Robert Redford He later responded that he wasn t aware The two also appeared together in The Chase The Electric Horseman and Our Souls at Night WHERE TO WATCH Stream on Kanopy rent on several services including Prime Video Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Redford met Paul Newman on Butch Cassidy George Roy Hill and William Goldman s Western buddy film about outlaws on the run It was the start of a lifelong friendship but it almost didn t happen since the studio requested a star like Steve McQueen or Marlon Brando instead of Redford I was not a name equal to Paul s I was just sort of moving up at that time he informed the AP in There was a big argument that went on for months and months They disclosed it had to be a star Newman announced Well I want to work with an actor because Paul respected acting Had it not been for Paul I would not have gotten that break WHERE TO WATCH Rent on several services including Prime Video Downhill Racer A film that s as stylish as it is compelling Redford plays an ambitious and smug downhill skier out for Olympic gold in this Michael Ritchie film Roger Ebert in his review wrote that it is a portrait of a man that is so complete and so tragic that Downhill Racer becomes the best movie ever made about sports without really being about sports at all This was one of Redford s passion projects his first independent feature that taught him specific hard lessons about Hollywood That was when I learned about how the film industry really works Redford informed the Harvard Business Review in The studio totally tossed Downhill Racer away without a second thought I broke my heart trying to get that film promoted and distributed WHERE TO WATCH Stream on Kanopy or FuboTV rent on Prime Video The Sting After the success of Butch Cassidy The Sting another Hill film fell into place more easily Redford and Newman play grifters in Chicago who fleece Robert Shaw s rich mobster in this memorable caper that went on to win best picture What was captivating was the switcheroo Redford narrated the AP Paul had played these iconic quiet still characters in the past and that s not what Paul is He was a chatty nervous guy who was reliably biting his fingernails He loved to have fun and play games WHERE TO WATCH Stream on Spectrum rent on several services including Apple TV The Way We Were Ah Hubbell that beautiful carefree WASP who falls in love with Barbra Streisand s fiercely opinionated Katie The making of the Pollack film from a script standpoint was fraught and the original writer Arthur Laurents was never quite happy with how it turned out But this romantic drama with that memorable song has endured over the generations it was even a reference in a pivotal Sex and the City episode WHERE TO WATCH Rent on various services including Fandango Three Days of the Condor Redford teamed with Pollack again for this paranoid thriller about a quiet CIA codebreaker who returns from lunch only to discover his co-workers have all been murdered The film sends him on the run from the bosses involved in this vast conspiracy and a hit man played by Max von Sydow WHERE TO WATCH Stream on MGM All the President s Men To Redford the history of this film was more thought-provoking than the project itself He started obsessing over the Watergate saga during a whistle-stop tour for The Candidate also a great and prophetic Redford film when he overheard particular journalists gossiping about the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and became fascinated by the journalists covering the story Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein I craved to know who these guys were who created all this disturbance Redford stated the AP I thought Wow one guy was a Jew one guy was a WASP One guy was a Republican the other guy was a liberal One guy was a good writer the other wasn t very good They didn t like each other but they had to work together Now that s an compelling dynamic I d love to know about WHERE TO WATCH Rent on several services including Prime Video The Natural This is one of those films that might not be several critics favorite but its cultural impact almost negates that Redford played baseball athlete Roy Hobbs in Barry Levinson s adaptation of Bernard Malamud s novel about an up-and-coming talent whose career is derailed after getting shot but who gets another chance at greatness years later WHERE TO WATCH Rent on several services including Prime Video Out of Africa This breathtakingly beautiful historical romance also directed by Pollack finds Meryl Streep as the Danish expat Karen Blixen unable to resist the charms of Redford s big contest hunter Denys Finch Hatton an English man with no accent Pollack thought it would be distracting for audiences The film didn t get the best reviews but it did go on to win the best picture Oscar WHERE TO WATCH Rent on several services including Prime Video All Is Lost J C Chandor directed Redford in this harrowing survival story in which a veteran sailor on a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean tries to survive after his yacht is stuck by a floating cargo container Made for only million it s stripped-down and thrilling It s a pure cinematic experience Redford reported The Hollywood Reporter And that was very appealing to me at this point in my life to be able to go back to my roots as an actor to be stimulating enough to have the audience ride along with you and almost be a part of what you are feeling and thinking It s likely a quirk of modern film review aggregation but it is also his highest Rotten Tomatoes figure WHERE TO WATCH Stream on Tubi The Roku Channel Kanopy The Old Man The Gun This indie gem from filmmaker David Lowery about a -year-old San Quentin escapee who embarks on a series of bank heists was a bit of a swan song for Redford who was when it was circulated His character Forrest Tucker is the kind of thief who left his casualties disarmed with one bank teller explaining to the police He was a gentleman It s one of those films that s almost comforting to watch a reassuring testament to his enduring appeal Charisma doesn t need to dwindle with age and Redford was proof WHERE TO WATCH Rent on several services including Apple TV