The Enigmatic Legend: Robert Redford's Hollywood Cold War
The Enigmatic Robert Redford: A Life of Contrasts and Controversy
The Hollywood legend has left us, but his legacy remains shrouded in mystery. Robert Redford's life was a paradox - a man who reveled in the spotlight yet despised its superficiality. His journey from a poor childhood to becoming one of the most iconic stars of our time is a tale of contradictions and controversies that will leave you wondering about the real person behind the persona.
Born in 1936, Robert Redford grew up with an absent father who was more interested in his Standard Oil job than his son's life. But it was his uncle David who played a significant role in shaping him - until his untimely death on the battlefield when Redford was just eight years old. His mother, Martha, tried to fill the void, teaching her young son to drive before he turned ten and instilling in him a love for Native American culture that would stay with him forever.
Redford's early life was marked by hardship and tragedy - his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen, gave birth to their baby son, Scott, who died in his tenth week. The heartbreak was compounded when Redford's mother passed away at 40 from complications related to a double stillbirth. His father remarried soon after, leaving Redford feeling abandoned and lost.
But acting became his lifeline - a way to escape the pain of his past and find identity. After enrolling in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he met Lola again and they eloped to Las Vegas on a shoestring budget. Their marriage lasted almost three decades, producing two more children besides Scott's younger brother James.
Redford's rise to fame was meteoric - from bit parts to leading roles, he conquered Hollywood with ease. But beneath the charming smile and iconic good looks lay a complex web of insecurities and contradictions. He had an 'inverted vanity' that made him self-conscious about his appearance, often insisting on being filmed from his left side to avoid drawing attention to his cluster of moles.
He was a control freak who hated watching rushes - "Who am I kidding?" he'd exclaim at the screen. His perfectionism extended to every aspect of his life, including sports. He was an intimidating opponent on the ski slopes and tennis court, always pushing himself to win.
But Redford's greatest passion lay elsewhere - in the wilderness. He spent countless hours hiking and riding across America, often for weeks on end, to escape the trappings of fame. "There are no mirrors to tell you how your beard is, or if there's a boil on your nose," he'd say with a twinkle in his eye.
He was a man of strong convictions - refusing to compromise on his art or play the celebrity game. He turned down iconic roles like Dustin Hoffman's in The Graduate and Anne Bancroft's in Rosemary's Baby, not because he was afraid of failure but because they didn't resonate with him on a deeper level.
Redford's relationships were also marked by intensity - with co-stars like Jane Fonda and Meryl Streep, who shared his passion for authenticity. He was fiercely protective of his family and private life, often using his mountain retreat as a sanctuary from the prying eyes of the paparazzi.
In 1980, he made history directing Ordinary People, a film that would earn him an Oscar but still leave him feeling disconnected from the industry. His independent spirit led him to create the Sundance Film Festival in the 1980s, a haven for artists who rejected the commercialism of Hollywood.
Throughout his career, Redford remained enigmatic - a star who defied categorization. He was a romantic figure, a rebel with a cause, and a loner who preferred the solitude of the wilderness to the spotlight's glare. His final years saw him continue to push boundaries - starring in All Is Lost (2013) as a lone yachtsman fighting for survival.
In 2018, he announced his retirement from acting, citing the loss of privacy that came with fame. "Life is not about Boy Scout maxims," he said wistfully. "Life is about winning. To be loved, to be a nice guy, is not necessarily a goal."
And so Robert Redford leaves us, a legend in his own right - complex, multifaceted, and forever shrouded in mystery. His life was a paradox of contradictions - a man who reveled in the spotlight yet despised its superficiality. As Meryl Streep so eloquently put it: "One of the lions has passed."
