Robert Redford Was More Than Just an Actor: A Guide to the 9 Films the Charismatic Leading Man Directed

During the course of an impressive career that spanned over six decades, Robert Redford, who just died at age 89, was known as one of the film industry’s most charismatic and multitalented figures. Of course, Redford was the handsome leading man in classic ’60s and ’70s films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and All the President’s Men, but he proved that he was more than just an actor as he became an Oscar-winning director, an impassioned environmental activist and a trailblazer in the world of independent film as the founder of the Sundance Film Festival.

Redford’s filmography as an actor is undeniably impressive on its own, but when you add his many accomplishments behind the screen, his body of work feels even more singular and special. In honor of Redford’s legendary life, we’re taking a look back at his work as a director, from his acclaimed 1980 debut, Ordinary People, to the final film he directed and starred in, 2012’s The Company You Keep.

1. An auspicious directorial debut: ‘Ordinary People’ (1980)

Robert Redford made his directorial debut with the 1980 film Ordinary People. The movie starred Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore as parents grieving their older son’s accidental death while their surviving son (played by Timothy Hutton, who became the youngest Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner at just 20 years old) attempts suicide and navigates his deep familial trauma.

Ordinary People was a critical and commercial success, and won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Director, making it quite the achievement for Redford’s first time behind the camera. He said making the tragic domestic drama was “a wonderful experience,” and looking back on winning multiple Oscars for the film, he mused, “That was really weird. I didn’t know what to do with that. Really, I was in shock. I did not expect it.”

2. A sophomore flop: ‘The Milagro Beanfield War’ (1988)

Redford’s second film, The Milagro Beanfield War, starred Ruben Blades, Richard Bradford, Sônia Braga, Melanie Griffith, John Heard and Christopher Walken in a story about a New Mexican farmer fighting for his rights against greedy developers.

Unlike Ordinary People, the film was a box office disappointment, though it made an impact in Redford’s personal life, as he had a relationship with the film’s leading lady, Sônia Braga. While The Milagro Beanfield War isn’t as well-remembered as some of his other work, it’s noteworthy for featuring environmental themes close to the director’s heart, and he loved shooting in New Mexico, saying, “Being able to use so many people from the villages there, some didn’t even speak English. To use their faces in the film, pretty big deal for me.”

3. A breakout for Brad Pitt: ‘A River Runs Through It’ (1992)

The period drama A River Runs Through It starred Brad Pitt (in one of his earliest major roles) and Craig Sheffer as fisherman brothers coming of age in Missoula, Montana. Redford served as the film’s narrator, marking the first time he acted in one of his own productions, though his character was unseen and unlisted in the credits.

A River Runs Through It was a success and received the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Redford was self-deprecating about acting in his film, saying, “I’m a target. People may hear my voice and go: ‘Redford’s ego trip. Why couldn’t he stay the hell out of it? Generally, I’m against narration. But without the voice as a guide and a rhythm, the film just fell apart.”

4. A film based on a ’50s TV scandal: ‘Quiz Show’ (1994)

Quiz Show starred John Turturro, Rob Morrow and Ralph Fiennes in a story based on a real-life game show-fixing scandal that changed the face of mid-century TV. The film was nominated for four Oscars and was praised for the way it depicted a strange moment in media history.

Redford was drawn to Quiz Show because it was set in New York City in the ’50s, an environment that was familiar to him from the earliest days of his acting career, and he felt that the story had continued relevance, saying, “Until then, we still trusted what we saw on TV. I did. I think that quiz show scandal was really the first in a series of scandals… that have left us numbed, unsure of what or who to believe.”

5. The first film Robert Redford directed and starred in: ‘The Horse Whisperer’ (1998)

While many actors-turned-directors tend to cast themselves in all their movies, this was decidedly not the case for Redford, as he didn’t star in a movie he directed until 1998’s The Horse Whisperer, where he played a gifted horse trainer who helps a teen girl (Scarlett Johansson, in her breakout role) following her devastating riding accident.

The Horse Whisperer was a box office hit thanks to its moving story and powerful performances. When asked about the experience of directing himself for the first time, Redford said, “When I did this, I had some anxiety about it, some self-consciousness about it. It wasn’t hard. It was exhausting because of having to do, you know, the two things, but it wasn’t—it wasn’t hard. It was comfortable enough when I was doing it. What was uncomfortable was the in-between of having to step over to a monitor, which I don’t like—I don’t like that mechanical intrusion on the experience—and then look at it and judge yourself. That felt weird. But I did it and I got through it. It turned out to be OK, just exhausting.”

6. A sports movie with a magical twist: ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’ (2000)

The Legend of Bagger Vance starred Matt Damon as a down-on-his-luck Great Depression-era golfer who receives help from an enigmatic and mystical coach (Will Smith). The film had mixed reviews and received some criticism for its handling of racial dynamics.

Redford envisioned The Legend of Bagger Vance as a philosophical take on the sports movie, saying, “I’m not much interested in sport just as sport. I wouldn’t be interested in making a golf film or baseball or fishing film. But if it’s going to be getting to the deeper part of it, using that sport as the metaphor for life’s rhythms and life’s ways, that gets interesting to me. Of all the metaphorical crossovers, golf is the most interesting and appropriate because it’s about a fight against yourself—a struggle against yourself. And it’s one other element. You’ve got a club and a ball, but it’s really just you against nature. The greens, the fairways, the wind, light. And the precision and competence and centeredness it takes. You have to have your swing.”

7. An A-list political drama: ‘Lions for Lambs’ (2007)

Redford starred alongside fellow heavy-hitters Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise in Lions for Lambs, a drama following a congressman, a journalist and a professor during the war in Afghanistan. The film, which arose from the actor and director’s longstanding interest in politics, was negatively reviewed despite its strong cast.

Redford said that Lions for Lambs “was pulling together, pulling forward, different things that I’d done in my career,” and noted that his goal for the movie was for viewers “To be entertained in a way that made them think.”

8. A unique take on Abraham Lincoln: ‘The Conspirator’ (2010)

The Conspirator told the wild story of Mary Surratt (played by Robin Wright), who was the only woman charged in Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and the first woman to be sentenced to death by the U.S. government.

Redford said he was drawn to the complexity of Surratt’s life, observing, “I remember the slogan when I was a kid . . . ‘It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game that matters.’ Well, I found that was a lie. There’s another side to this country that sits underneath the story we’re being told. So I guess that led me to want to make these films, and I probably always will.”

9. The last film Robert Redford directed: ‘The Company You Keep’ (2012)

Redford starred in the final film he directed, The Company You Keep, playing a former militant left-wing activist who goes on the run after his identity is exposed by a journalist. Like many of his films, The Company You Keep served as an exploration of complex and often misunderstood political issues.

Redford, who was 76 when he made the film, stated that he wanted the movie to have a throwback style that was different from the mainstream, saying, “I guess you would call this a classical drama. It’s story, character and emotion put in a very clear pattern so the audience can follow it. We’re surrounded by films now that I would call ‘splash filmmaking’—heavily energized, heavily violent, not so much about story. There are a lot of filmmakers today whose technical skills I admire, but where’s the story? It’s exciting to watch what they do for a few minutes, but it evaporates like cotton candy.”

Clearly, none of the multihyphenate actor-director-activist’s films ever evaporated, and following his passing, his fascinatingly varied body of work will live on.