![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/mexmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Robert-Redford.jpg\")
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by Pat Tyson<\/strong> \u201c<\/span>I do think the people of Mexico and their history have been part of my life since I was a child,\u201d<\/em> explains Robert Redford,<\/strong> the charismatic actor, director and environmentalist who is beloved by people all over the world.<\/p>\n Originally named Charles Robert Redford, Jr., or Bob \u2013 as he is known to his close friends \u2013 was born August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, and grew up in a working-class community where his family was one of the few anglo families in a Mexican neighborhood.<\/p>\n \u201cI became very attached to the families, their way of thinking and their stories,\u201d<\/em> he says. \u201cAll of that put together over the years has had a big impact on my life \u2013 so, I have a history with Mexico.\u201d<\/em> The reason for his recent visit there was that he wants everyone to realize how significant is this country south of the border.<\/p>\n Redford says that he was anxious to go to Mexico because he believes it\u2019s important for people to understand that the country is a much bigger place than just the bad news that\u2019s presented to America. He also feels that journalism has become so sensational that it seems the only news coming out of there relates to cartels, danger and other negative aspects.<\/p>\n \u201cI know there is another part of Mexico,\u201d<\/em> he affirms, \u201cYou want people to see that; you want to help them understand that it is amazing, simply amazing \u2013 the history, the culture, the people and the art!\u201d<\/em> As a conservationist, his involvement with, and fervent concern for, the environment Redford\u00a0brings him to comment on the subject of tourism; he feels that times \u2013 and even people \u2013 have changed.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think people any longer want to go into a monstrous place that has destroyed part of the eco-system just to make money,\u201d<\/em> he states, \u201cI think people are beginning to rebel against that. They\u2019re more interested in going to a place that has respected the environment \u2013 or working with it in balance \u2013 it makes them feel better about going there. So, I believe that\u2019s the way of the future and I\u2019m here to support that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n But before he turned his boundless energies to the improvement of the world around him, he got into youthful mischief and lost his baseball scholarship at the University of Colorado. After attending the Pratt Institute of Art and living the painter\u2019s life in Europe, he studied acting in New York at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.<\/p>\n He met and fell in love with Lola Van Wagenen, a consumer activist, who dropped out of college to marry him in 1958. Before they divorced in 1985, they had four children; first came Scott, whom they lost tragically to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in 1959. Next, daughter Shauna, 51, is a painter, who married Eric Schlosser \u2013 their first child making Redford a grandfather in 1991. After this momentous event, he remarked \u201cI am, perhaps, the best-looking grandfather around, apart from Marlon Brando, of course!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Redford also has a son, James (Jamie) 50, a screenwriter and a daughter, Amy, 42, who is an actress. Twenty-four years after his divorce, he married his present wife and longtime companion, Sibylle Szaggars, in 2009. However, during the earlier years his red hair and undeniably good looks had led to many movie and television parts, but his breakthrough role, in 1969, was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, when he was 32 years old.<\/p>\n His performance as the Sundance Kid is ranked as number 20th on the American Film Institute\u2019s 100 Heroes and Villains, which ranking he shares with Paul Newman, who portrayed Butch Cassidy. His performance as Bob Woodward in the outstanding All The President\u2019s Men<\/i>, is ranked number 27 in the same category, which he shares with Dustin Hoffman, who played Carl Bernstein.<\/p>\n In 1973, The Way We Were<\/i>, a heart-wrenching movie in which he costarred with Barbara Streisand, and the suspenseful The Sting<\/i>, again starring with Paul Newman, were the two movies that made Redford the number one box office star for the following three years. He then used his influence to advance environmental causes and had become financially able to acquire Utah property, which he transformed into a ranch and the Sundance ski resort in the mountains of Utah.<\/p>\n In 1980, he established the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences. Through its programs, the Institute seeks to discover, support and inspire independent film and theater artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work. It has evolved to become internationally-recognized in the active advancement of the work of risk-taking storytellers worldwide.<\/p>\n The Institute\u2019s film festival has become one of the most influential in the world. Redford\u2019s directorial debut, Ordinary People, led to his winning the Academy Award as Best Director in 1981. Some eight years later he got behind the camera again for the screen version of John Nichols\u2019 acclaimed novel of the Southwest, The Milagro Beanfield War.<\/p>\n Demonstrating his wide range as an actor, other significant movies in which Redford has starred include The Great Gatsby<\/i>, (1974), The Natural <\/i>(1984), Out of Africa <\/i>(1985), Havana <\/i>(1990), Indecent Proposal <\/i>(1993), Horse Whisperer <\/i>(1998) and The Clearing <\/i>(2004). We wondered if he has any favorite movie.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve loved all my movies, but if I had to choose\u2026where did I have more fun?\u2026where did I enjoy myself the most?\u201d<\/em> He pauses only for a moment. \u201cIt was Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid<\/i>\u201d he responds \u201cI love horses, I love to do stunts, I loved the character. And Paul Newman \u2013 he was a fun-loving, fun guy. I loved it all!\u201d<\/em> It is obvious that his friendship with Newman went beyond simply working together on a movie. \u201cI have lost a real friend. My life \u2013 and this country \u2013 are better for him being in it. There are certain friendships that are sometimes too good, too strong to talk about.\u201d<\/em> His present plans include filming in Mexico \u2013 at the Baja Film Studios.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an interesting story about a man on a boat in a storm,\u201d<\/em> he explains. \u201cThere is no dialogue; it\u2019s very bold, very different \u2013 and that\u2019s why I\u2019m doing it. In this unbelievable storm \u2013 just his mind, his skill and his knowledge and his heart–to keep going under impossible circumstances. It\u2019s different \u2013 I like it!\u201d<\/em> Redford admits to the fact that he has been somewhat of a rebel during his career.<\/p>\n \u201cI became a director because growing up I was impatient, rebellious, didn\u2019t always want to play by the rules,\u201d he acknowledges. I didn\u2019t want to accept someone else\u2019s way of living \u2013 to a fault.\u201d<\/em> Although, in time, he says, he came to respect rules and discipline.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need some order in your life to make it work, so that grew as I got older. I gained more respect for discipline, so when I became a director I became very disciplined,\u201d<\/em> Redford concludes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Robert Redford He Has a Close History with Mexico by Pat Tyson photos by Kristina Loggia and Calvin Knight \u201cI do think the people of Mexico and their history have been part of my life since I was a child,\u201d explains Robert Redford, the charismatic actor, director and environmentalist who is beloved by people all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nphotos by Kristina Loggia and Calvin Knight<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/mexmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Robert-Redford-b.jpg\")
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