When I was a kid, I read an article that said Robert Redford preferred to be called Bob. And he always knew his friends because nobody he really knew called him Robert. From that moment, I resolved that if I ever met the man in person, I would say, “It’s nice to meet you, Bob.”
My dreams of meeting Robert Redford (and calling him Bob) faded many years ago. But of all the actors who influenced my life, Redford is at the top of the list. Sure, he’s best known as the Sundance Kid and his roles in “The Sting” and “The Way We Were.” All wonderful movies!
But his role as Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward changed my life. Redford championed getting that movie made when nobody wanted to tell the story on screen. Watching Woodward and Bernstein (that is, Redford and Dustin Hoffman) play the young reporters who broke the Watergate scandal was my first foray into the power of words and storytelling. I was hooked! And that movie solidified my desire to become a journalist.
I read a quote from Redford where he said: “I’m interested in that thing that happens where there’s a breaking point for some people and not for others. You go through such hardship, things that are almost impossibly difficult, and theres’s no sign that it’s going to get any better, and that’s the point when people quit. But some don’t.”
This idea — and those stories of resiliency — is exactly what has drawn me to his characters and the stories he told in the movies he’s made. This is why movies like his directorial debut, “Ordinary People,” continue to deeply move me, even after watching it dozens of times.
Rest easy in those Utah mountains, Bob. May your memory be a blessing. ❤️🙏🏼