Remembering ‘Bob’ Redford

I had two things in common with Robert Redford. One, we were both born in Santa Monica. Two, we both loved my father.

Yes, the two men shared political and environmental interests. I remember the night the actor, known mostly as Bob, came to our home in Malibu and apologized for being late. “I’ve been in a parking garage all day with Deep Throat,” he explained. Yep, he was filming All The President’s Men. He and my dad went on to form something called Energy Action, though they had other non-Hollywood interests.

Redford also rented our beach house at one time. He revealed later that he was preparing to direct Ordinary People but had been unable to find his leading lady to play the uptight, suppressed mother—until he was sitting on our deck one day and noticed a woman strolling the beach with her dog. She was heavily wrapped up, and it took him a few minutes to realize it was Mary Tyler Moore. He cast her in the role. (She was nominated for Best Actress, he won the Best Director Oscar.)

Years later, Barbra Streisand came to look at our home for a possible rental. I mentioned Redford had done it once. “He’s going to be my co-star in this movie,” she said. I told her I knew that and added, “Maybe you could co-live here.” “I wouldn’t mind!” she exclaimed.

The Way We Were, All the President’s Men, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Natural, The Sting, and so many more. He began acting here in New York, and drew major attention for starring in Barefoot In the Park. He did a few more on stage, but he was a man made for the movies: truly ready for his closeup. He, of course, also founded the Sundance Film Festival program for independent filmmakers.

It is that time when the greats of his generation are, or will be, leaving us. Gene Hackman, Donald Sutherland, Paul Newman, Redford. . . . Can Warren Beatty be far behind? Each generation, of course, has its greats, but theirs was a special time of reaching beyond the acting awards and stretching into directing, producing, creating in new ways. (In fact, Redford—like Hackman—had started as a painter and apparently was doing that in his later years.)

“I’ve spent most of my life just focused on the road ahead, not looking back,” Redford said when he accepted his 2002 honorary Oscar. “But now tonight, I’m seeing in the rearview mirror that there is something I’ve not thought about much, called history.”

Robert Redford was a true leading man. But, just as important, he was a true citizen. He cared about the environment long before it was fashionable. He helped anti-nuclear activists (like my father) whenever asked. “See ya, Hubbell,” Streisand said at the end of their gorgeous love story.

And now, we say, “See ya, Bob.”