1959–1966: Early roles in
The Virginian (1964) Redford's acting career began in New York City, where he worked both on stage and in television. His
Broadway debut was in a small role in
Tall Story (1959), followed by parts in
The Highest Tree (1959) and
Sunday in New York (1961). His biggest success on Broadway was as the stuffy
newlywed husband of
Elizabeth Ashley in the original 1963 cast of
Neil Simon's
Barefoot in the Park. Starting in 1960, Redford appeared as a guest star on numerous television drama programs, including
Naked City,
Maverick,
The Untouchables,
The Americans,
Whispering Smith,
Perry Mason,
Alfred Hitchcock Presents,
Route 66,
Dr. Kildare,
Playhouse 90,
Tate,
The Twilight Zone,
The Virginian and ''
Captain Brassbound's Conversion'', among others. Redford made his screen debut in the film adaptation of
Tall Story (1960), reprising his Broadway role, although he was not credited. Redford earned an
Emmy nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in
The Voice of Charlie Pont (ABC, 1962). One of his last television appearances until 2019 was on October 7, 1963, on
Breaking Point, an
ABC medical drama about psychiatry. In 1962, Redford received his second film role in
War Hunt, 1967–1979: Career stardom '' (1967) Fonda and Redford were paired again in the popular big-screen version of
Barefoot in the Park (1967) and refused roles in ''
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate''. Redford found the niche he was seeking in
George Roy Hill's
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), scripted by
William Goldman, in which he was paired for the first time with
Paul Newman. The film was a huge success and made him a major bankable star, While Redford did not receive an Academy Award or Golden Globe nomination for playing the Sundance Kid, he won a British Academy of Film and Television Award (BAFTA) for that role and his parts in
Downhill Racer (1969) and
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969). The latter two films and the subsequent
Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970) and
The Hot Rock (1972) were not commercially successful. Redford had long harbored ambitions to work on both sides of the camera. As early as 1969, Redford had served as the executive producer for
Downhill Racer. Starting in 1973, Redford experienced a four-year run of box-office successes. The western
Jeremiah Johnsons (1972) box-office earnings from early 1973 until its second re-release in 1975 would have placed it as the 2nd-highest-grossing film of 1973. His romantic period drama with
Barbra Streisand,
The Way We Were (1973), was the 5th-highest-grossing film of 1973. and one of the top-twenty highest-grossing movies of all time when adjusted for inflation and it also landed Redford the lone nomination of his career for the
Academy Award for Best Actor. In 1976, he co-starred with
Dustin Hoffman in the 2nd-highest-grossing film for the year, the critically acclaimed ''
All the President's Men. In 1976, Redford published The Outlaw Trail: A Journey Through Time''. Redford stated, "The Outlaw Trail. It was a name that fascinated me—a geographical anchor in Western folklore. Whether real or imagined, it was a name that, for me, held a kind of magic, a freedom, a mystery. I wanted to see it in much the same way as the outlaws did, by horse and by foot and document the adventure with text and photographs." ''All the President's Men
, in which Redford and Hoffman play Washington Post'' reporters
Bob Woodward and
Carl Bernstein, was a landmark film for Redford. Not only was he the executive producer and co-star, but the film's serious subject matter—the
Watergate scandal—and its attempt to create a realistic portrayal of journalism also reflected the actor's offscreen concerns for political causes.
1980–1998: Directorial debut in 1981 Redford's first film as director was the drama film
Ordinary People (1980), a drama about the slow disintegration of an
upper-middle class family after the death of a son. Redford was credited with obtaining a powerful, dramatic performance from
Mary Tyler Moore, as well as superb work from
Donald Sutherland and
Timothy Hutton, who also won the Oscar for
Best Supporting Actor. The film is one of the most critically and publicly acclaimed films of the decade, winning four
Academy Awards, including
Best Director for Redford himself and
Best Picture. Later that year he appeared in the prison drama
Brubaker (1980), playing a
prison warden attempting to reform the system. Soon afterwards, he starred in the baseball drama
The Natural (1984). won a Golden Globe for Best Picture, and won seven
Oscars, including Best Picture. Streep was nominated for Best Actress, but Redford did not receive a nomination. The movie proved to be Redford's biggest success of the decade and Redford and Pollack's most successful of their seven movies together. and
Sônia Braga, promoting
The Milagro Beanfield War at the
1988 Cannes Film Festival Redford did not direct again until
The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), a well-crafted, though not commercially successful, screen version of
John Nichols's acclaimed novel of the Southwest.
The Milagro Beanfield War is the story of the people of Milagro, New Mexico (based on the real town of
Truchas in northern New Mexico), overcoming big developers who set about to ruin their community and force them out with tax increases. Redford continued as a major star throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In 1992, he released his third film as a director, the period drama
A River Runs Through It, based on
Norman Maclean's novella, starring
Craig Sheffer,
Brad Pitt and
Tom Skerritt. Redford received a nomination for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Director. This was a return to mainstream success for Redford as a director and brought a young Pitt to greater prominence. In 1994, he directed the exposé
Quiz Show about the quiz show scandal of the late 1950s. In 1993, he starred in
Indecent Proposal as a billionaire businessman who tests a couple's morals; the film became one of the year's biggest hits. He co-starred with
Michelle Pfeiffer in the newsroom romance
Up Close & Personal (1996), and with
Kristin Scott Thomas and a young
Scarlett Johansson in
The Horse Whisperer (1998), which he also directed.
1999–2012: Expansive filmmaking and later works Redford also directed
Matt Damon and
Will Smith in
The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000). He appeared as a disgraced Army general sent to prison in the prison drama
The Last Castle (2001), directed by Rod Lurie. In the same year, Redford reteamed with Pitt for
Spy Game, another success for the pair but with Redford switching this time from director to actor. During that time, he planned to direct and star in a sequel of
The Candidate but the project never happened. Redford, a leading environmental activist, narrated the
IMAX documentary
Sacred Planet (2004), a sweeping journey across the globe to some of its most exotic and endangered places. In
The Clearing (2004), Redford portrayed Wayne Hayes, a shrewd businessman whose kidnapping forces him and his wife to confront the personal compromises behind their seemingly ideal life. Redford stepped back into producing with
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), a coming-of-age road film about
Ernesto "Che" Guevara as a young medical student and his friend
Alberto Granado. It also explored the political and social issues of South America that influenced Guevara and shaped his future. With five years spent on the film's making, Redford was credited by director
Walter Salles for being instrumental in getting it made and released. Back in front of the camera, Redford received good notices for his role in director
Lasse Hallström's
An Unfinished Life (2005) as a cantankerous rancher who takes in his estranged daughter-in-law (
Jennifer Lopez) and the granddaughter he never knew, after they flee an abusive relationship. Meanwhile, Redford returned to familiar territory when he reteamed with Streep, 22 years after they starred in
Out of Africa, for his personal project
Lions for Lambs (2007), which also starred
Tom Cruise. After a great deal of hype, the film opened to mixed reviews and disappointing box office.
Owen Gleiberman of
Entertainment Weekly wrote, "
Lions for Lambs is so square it's like something out of the gray twilight glow of the golden age of television. Even the military plot, which clunks, seems to be taking place on stage." In 2010, Redford released
The Conspirator, a period drama revolving around the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln. In the 2014
Marvel Studios superhero film
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Redford played antagonist
Alexander Pierce, the head of
S.H.I.E.L.D. and secretly leader of the
Hydra cell operating the
Triskelion. Redford was a co-producer and, with
Emma Thompson and
Nick Nolte, acted in the film
A Walk in the Woods (2015), based on
Bill Bryson's book of the same name. Redford had optioned the film rights for the book from Bryson after reading it more than a decade earlier, with the intent of co-starring in it with Paul Newman, but had shelved the project after Newman's death. Also in 2015, he played news anchor
Dan Rather in
James Vanderbilt's
Truth alongside
Cate Blanchett. The film received mixed reviews with
Justin Chang of
Variety noting, "Redford, who bears a solid resemblance to Rather but not quite enough to make you forget whom you're watching, plays the veteran newsman with easy gravitas, inner strength and a gentle paternal twinkle, with little display of the anger and volatility for which he was often known over the course of his storied career." In 2016, he took the supporting role of Mr. Meacham in the
Disney remake ''
Pete's Dragon. The next year, Redford starred in The Discovery and Our Souls at Night'', both released on
Netflix streaming in 2017. The latter film, which he also produced, reunited him with Fonda for the fifth time and garnered positive reviews. Redford played bank robber
Forrest Tucker in the
David Lowery–directed drama film
The Old Man & the Gun, which was released in September 2018 and for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. Alissa Wikinson wrote in
Vox, "In
The Old Man & the Gun, both Redford and Lowery are returning to their roots. For Redford, a role as a lifelong bank robber feels like a fitting cap to a career effectively launched half a century ago with his role alongside Paul Newman in
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." In August 2018, Redford announced his retirement from acting after completion of the film, though the following month, Redford stated that he "regretted" announcing his retirement because "you never know". Redford briefly reprised his role as Alexander Pierce with a
cameo in
Avengers: Endgame, filmed in 2017 before the completion of the former film. In 2023, Redford made an uncredited voice-only cameo in the
HBO miniseries
White House Plumbers as
Bob Woodward, reprising his role from ''All the President's Men
. On the AMC series Dark Winds'' Redford, an executive producer, made a cameo alongside fellow executive producer
George R. R. Martin portraying a detainee playing chess. The episode aired in March 2025, and marked his final acting performance. ==Filmography and accolades ==