Sports Played Big, Early Role for Redford

For years the sight of his blond hair and blue eyes have dazzled audiences, but before becoming a respected actor, director and producer, Robert Redford attended Van Nuys High School.

Moving from a Latino area in West Los Angeles to the Valley is a period in the actor’s life that carries few fond memories.

“My father was a milkman and things were pretty rough. When we moved to the Valley, I felt like I was being tossed into quicksand. There was no culture. It was very oppressive,” said Redford in a 1990 interview with The Times. “I would have preferred the Hispanic neighborhood I grew up in. It’s one of the reasons I did sports a lot.”

Redford won a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado, but would later turn from sports to painting and then to acting. He was in his 20s when his big break came--the lead in Neil Simon’s 1963 comedy “Barefoot in the Park,” directed by Mike Nichols.

It was a hit for Redford, earning him kudos as the new Cary Grant. He went from being an unknown New York stage actor to the drop-dead handsome leading man with devastating comic timing.

Redford went on to star in such hit movies as “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, “The Way We Were”, “The Natural” and “Legal Eagles.”

When not acting, he was busy promoting independent filmmaking through his Sundance Institute, developing a ski resort and sponsoring seminars on various environmental causes. He has also lent his name and money to left-of-center political causes such as offshore oil drilling, American Indian rights and global warming.

In 1980, Redford made his directorial debut with “Ordinary People,” followed by “The Milagro Beanfield War”, “A River Runs Through It” and “Quiz Show.”

Always the heartthrob, Redford captivated a million imaginations when he returned to the big screen to star in “Indecent Proposal” and “Up Close & Personal.”