In our latest tribute, Janet, John, (and Pen) celebrate the life and career of the amazing actor, producer, director, politcal activist and founder of the Sundance Film Festival... Robert Redford! Though born in Santa Monica, California on August 18th, 1936, this future star often spent his summers with his grandfather in Austin, Texas. Often contributing his time there to being the catalyst for his environmentalist activism and general love of nature. After many wild and traumatic events during his childhood, Redford went to the University of Colorado Boulder to play baseball. Opting to have his educational track be in the arts. However, a recurring problem with alcohol led to this budding artist losing his scholarship, forcing him to leave school entirely. Nevertheless, Redford made the most of his time away from university, choosing to study painting in Europe. Specifically that of France, Spain, and Italy. When he eventually went back to school, Redford was quickly disparged by one of his painting professors. This caused him to become unsure of his commitment to art. However, he used these feelings of uncertainity and set his sights on set design, this ultimately becoming the catalyst to his eventual career in acting. By around 1959, Redford would play a small role in the play, Tall Story (1959), that he would eventually reprise in a movie adaption in 1960--- this being his film debut. From there Redford would go onto being a part of many films such as War Hunt (1962) and Inside Daisy Clover (1965), Barefoot in the Park (1967), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Downhill Racer (1969), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Candidate (1972) and The Sting (1973), with the last earning him an Academy Award nomination. In his lifetime, Redford would go onto gain many nominations for his work as an actor and director!

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