Robert Redford's father was an accountant for Standard Oil, and Redford was raised in a comfortable middle-class household. He earned a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado, but the scholarship was revoked after Redford hosted several drunken parties. He then studied drama at New York's Academy of Dramatic Arts, and became a busy actor on Broadway through the mid-1960s. On off days and between plays he worked on television a lot -- Perry Mason, Naked City, Route 66, The Twilight Zone, The Untouchables, and so on. His first film was the 1962 Korean war drama War Hunt, with Redford in a supporting role as a naïve recruit, and co-starring Sydney Pollack, who later directed several of Redford's most famous films. Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park was Redford's biggest Broadway hit, and he also starred in a 1967 Barefoot film adaptation. It was his sixth film, and it made him famous.
He is politically liberal and often outspoken about it, albeit more tactfully than Barbra Streisand.
[1] Verified with State of California, California Birth Index, 1905-1995.
Father: Charles Robert Redford (accountant)
Mother: Martha Hart (d. 1955)
Brother: William Redford
Wife: Lola Van Wagenen (consumer activist, m. 12-Sep-1958, div. 1985)
Daughter: Shauna Redford (painter, b. 15-Nov-1960)
Son: David James Redford ("Jamie", screenwriter, b. 5-May-1962, d. 17-Oct-2020)
Daughter: Amy Hart Redford (actress, b. 22-Oct-1970)
Girlfriend: Sonia Braga (actress, ex-)
Girlfriend: Kathy O'Rear (costume designer, dated 1988 into the 1990s)
Wife: Sibylle Szaggars (German painter, dated 1999-2009, m. 11-Jul-2009)
High School: Van Nuys High School, Van Nuys, CA (1954)
University: University of Colorado (lost scholarship)
University: Pratt Institute
The Weinstein Company Advisor
Bill Bradley for President
John Kerry for President
Kerry Victory 2004
Kappa Sigma Fraternity
National Medal of Arts 1996
French Legion of Honor 2010
Traveled to the USSR 7-May-1988
FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
The Company You Keep (6-Sep-2012)
The Conspirator (11-Sep-2010)
Lions for Lambs (22-Oct-2007)
The Legend of Bagger Vance (29-Oct-2000)
The Horse Whisperer (15-May-1998)
Quiz Show (14-Sep-1994)
A River Runs Through It (13-Sep-1992)
The Milagro Beanfield War (18-Mar-1988)
Ordinary People (19-Sep-1980)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Avengers: Endgame (22-Apr-2019)
The Old Man & the Gun (31-Aug-2018)
Jane Fonda in Five Acts (20-Jan-2018) · Himself
Our Souls at Night (1-Sep-2017)
The Discovery (20-Jan-2017)
Pete's Dragon (31-Jul-2016)
Truth (12-Sep-2015)
A Walk in the Woods (23-Jan-2015)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (13-Mar-2014)
Birth of the Living Dead (18-Oct-2013) · Himself
All Is Lost (22-May-2013)
The Company You Keep (6-Sep-2012)
A Fierce Green Fire (23-Jan-2012) · Narrator
Buck (16-Jun-2011) · Himself
Smash His Camera (Jan-2010) · Himself
Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk (12-Mar-2008) · Narrator
Lions for Lambs (22-Oct-2007) · Prof. Stephen Malley
Charlotte's Web (7-Dec-2006) · Ike the Horse [VOICE]
An Unfinished Life (19-Aug-2005) · Einar Gilkyson
Trudell (20-Jan-2005) · Himself
Tanner on Tanner (5-Oct-2004) · Himself
Sacred Planet (12-Apr-2004) · Narrator [VOICE]
The Clearing (Jan-2004) · Wayne Hayes
Spy Game (19-Nov-2001)
The Last Castle (19-Oct-2001)
The Horse Whisperer (15-May-1998) · Tom Booker
Up Close & Personal (1-Mar-1996) · Warren Justice
Indecent Proposal (7-Apr-1993) · John Gage
Sneakers (9-Sep-1992) · Bishop
Incident at Oglala (8-May-1992) · Narrator [VOICE]
Here's Looking at You, Warner Bros. (1991) · Himself
Havana (12-Dec-1990) · Jack Weil
Legal Eagles (18-Jun-1986) · Tom Logan
Out of Africa (10-Dec-1985) · Denys
The Natural (11-May-1984) · Roy Hobbs
Brubaker (20-Jun-1980) · Brubaker
The Electric Horseman (21-Dec-1979) · Sonny
A Bridge Too Far (15-Jun-1977)
All the President's Men (7-Apr-1976) · Bob Woodward
Three Days of the Condor (24-Sep-1975) · Turner
The Great Waldo Pepper (13-Mar-1975) · Waldo Pepper
The Great Gatsby (26-Mar-1974) · Jay Gatsby
The Sting (25-Dec-1973) · Johnny Hooker
The Way We Were (17-Oct-1973) · Hubbell
Jeremiah Johnson (10-Sep-1972)
The Candidate (29-Jun-1972)
The Hot Rock (21-Apr-1972) · Dortmunder
Little Fauss and Big Halsy (21-Oct-1970)
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (18-Dec-1969) · Cooper
Downhill Racer (6-Nov-1969)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (23-Sep-1969) · The Sundance Kid
Barefoot in the Park (25-May-1967) · Paul Bratter
This Property Is Condemned (3-Aug-1966)
The Chase (19-Feb-1966)
Inside Daisy Clover (17-Feb-1966) · Wade Lewis
Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious (13-Oct-1965)
War Hunt (1962) · Pvt. Roy Loomis
The Iceman Cometh (14-Nov-1960)