Robert Redford: Hollywood icon who made bisexuality famous and fought for marriage for all has died
Hollywood has lost one of its greatest icons. Robert Redford, the actor, director and producer who made history with Inside Daisy Clover (1965), in which he portrayed a bisexual actor, died on 16 September at the age of 89. According to his publicist Cindi Berger, he passed away in his sleep at his home in Sundance, Utah, surrounded by his family.
"He will be greatly missed," Berger said, asking that the privacy of his loved ones be respected.
A groundbreaking career and a Golden Globe
Redford's career took off in the 1960s in television series, including The Twilight Zone and Playhouse 90. He got his first big movie opportunity in the 1962 war drama War Hunt. But his real breakthrough came with Inside Daisy Clover, in which he appeared as Wade Lewis, a bisexual movie star. For this role, he won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer Male.
A decade of iconic roles followed - from the comedy Barefoot in the Park alongside Jane Fonda, to the western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Paul Newman, to the legendary Stranglehold (1973), which earned him his first Oscar nomination. Redford also appeared in As We Were (1973) with Barbra Streisand, the screenplay of which was written by gay screenwriter Arthur Laurents and the film is considered to be inspired by his own life.
From acting to directing and the founding of Sundance
In 1981, Redford founded the Sundance Film Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, which has become one of the most important platforms for independent film. Named after his role as the Sundance Kid, it created a space for new filmmakers and progressive filmmaking.
Redford soon moved behind the camera as well - his directorial debut Ordinary People (1980) earned him an Academy Award for Best Director. Even in his later years, he remained active: he appeared in the Marvel films Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), as well as in the biopic The Old Man & the Gun (2018).
A Voice for Equality and LGBTQ+ Rights
Off the screen, Redford has been involved in the fight for civil rights and environmental protection. He has also supported the LGBTQ+ community - at an Equality Utah event in 2013 , he called discrimination against gay people "un-American" and openly stood up for marriage for all before it was federally legalised in the US.
"I'm here for the same reason you are - equal rights for all," he said at the time. "People should be able to marry whoever they love."
The legacy that remains
Robert Redford was more than just a movie star - he became a symbol of independent film, a pioneer of progressive filmmaking and a voice for social change. His legacy lives on not only in the films that have inspired generations of audiences, but also in the annual Sundance Film Festival, which continues to encourage new voices in world cinema.
