“One of the lions has passed,” Meryl Streep said upon hearing that the inimitable actor, director, producer and undeniable saviors of American independent cinema Robert Redford had died. “Lion” feels like the right word to speak to the actor’s screen presence: powerful, majestic, singular, beguiling and just plain beautiful. You don’t really need anyone or anything else on screen, as long as you have Robert Redford.
Nobody that Redford worked with was left unmoved by his talent. His The Way We Were co-star Barbra Streisand called him “one of a kind,” as well as “charismatic, intelligent, intense, always interesting.” Jane Fonda, who played opposite Redford in four wildly different, always compelling movies, said that he “stood for an America we have to keep fighting for.”
Indeed, beyond his indelible screen presence as one of the most charismatic leading men we’ve ever had and will ever have, Redford never stopped advocating for independent cinema beyond his own roles. It wasn’t enough to put himself center frame to woo and delight us, to make us forget our daily struggles—he put his money where his mouth was and created change where it was sorely needed.
