# RIP Robert Redford **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, celebrity-death\ **Created:** [September 16, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085 "2025-09-16T12:47:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/41 "2025-09-17T15:35:12Z")
There’s a story going around social media that Redford really wanted to star in _The Graduate_. Director Mike Nichols said that he told Redford that he was too good looking to play a guy who was supposed to be a loser. Redford insisted he could do it. “When have you ever struck one with a woman?” Nichols asked him. “What do you mean?” was Redford’s reply. And he was serious; he didn’t know what Nichols was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/42 "2025-09-17T15:37:21Z")
See above > [@RIP Robert Redford](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/31): > > My favorite Redford anecdote comes from Mike Nichols. They’d worked together in Barefoot in the Park, and Redford wanted Nichols to cast him as the lead in Nichols’s new movie, The Graduate. Nichols told him no. “You can’t play a loser.” Redford insisted he could. Nichols said, “No you can’t. Look at you. How often do you strike out with a woman?” Redford’s baffled response: “What do you mean?” He didn’t understand the concept. It had never happened. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/43 "2025-09-17T15:39:31Z")
I guess I know whose ignore list I’m on! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/44 "2025-09-17T15:40:30Z")
Never! Just an inability to read carefully! Mea Culpa! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/45 "2025-09-17T19:00:55Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > “What do you mean?” was Redford’s reply. And he was serious; he didn’t know what Nichols was talking about. Huh. No lesbians, no fully committeds, no I just got through a bad breakup and don’t want to be with ANY man, no just have other priorities at the moment? No knowing that it happens to other men? I call bee ess. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/46 "2025-09-17T19:33:25Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I call bee ess. I’m pretty sure JFK Jr had the same issue. > [@](#): > > “There were actually a few times when a woman showed up at John’s apartment in only a fur coat,” says Terenzio. “And I remember John said to me, ‘The first time it’s sexy and cute but after a while, it’s kind of cliche.’ I thought there is no man on the entire earth that would get tired of that.” > **[The Biggest Revelations from JFK Jr.'s Oral Biography: Naked Female Visitors,...](https://people.com/jfk-jr-intimate-oral-biography-bombshells-8677767)** > > Revealed in 'JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography' by RoseMarie Terenzio and LizMcNeil are sexy phone messages from Bruce Springsteen's ex, smoking weed daily, female visitors wearing only fur coats and more personal stories from JFK Jr.'s closest... YMMV ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/47 "2025-09-17T19:43:58Z")
Maybe they’re getting him mixed up with Paul Newman, who died in 2008. They did have some very prominent movies together. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/48 "2025-09-18T18:45:25Z")
Oooh, I bet that’s it! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/49 "2025-09-20T01:04:44Z")
One movie not mentioned yet: [A Walk In The Woods](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1178665/). Redford plays Bill Bryson, who tackles the Appalachian Trail with his disheveled friend (Nick Nolte). The movie (like the book) is a bit disappointing overall, but it’s kind of fun to watch them bumble around in the wilderness. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/50 "2025-09-29T18:13:35Z")
I guess I found it a little difficult to really connect with Robert Redford. Of course, by the time I was old enough to really appreciate movies, he was already an outsized icon and a legend, and that can certainly get in the way. But, as someone who spent many, many years plying his trade in the newspaper world, I’ll always treasure _All the President’s Men_. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2025, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/51 "2025-10-03T21:23:38Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I haven’t seen enough love for _A River Runs Through It,_ which he directed. Such a beautiful film to look at. One of my favorites. Yes, a beautiful film and pretty good. But I liked the book better. > [@Aspenglow](#): > > I remember being mildly surprised that his physical stature was quite small. Just remember: _all_ actors are smaller IRL. I saw Paul Newman (he shook hands with my brother), and he was a wee man. > [@Aspenglow](#): > > My favorite work of Mr. Redford’s was a film he directed but didn’t take an acting part in: [The Milagro Beanfield War](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095638/). It charmed me down to my toes, and I can never pass it by if I happen to see it on a channel. Oh, me, too! And this is one where I like the movie better than the book! The score is magical. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2025, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/52 "2025-10-04T04:33:33Z")
Ethan Hawke was on Jimmy Kimmel about a week or so ago and he gave a great speech(?) about Robert Redford and how he was influenced by him (1:34 onward). It was quite good: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qRSa9O0f0MU/maxresdefault.jpg "Ethan Hawke on Auditioning for Robert Redford, Shooting The Lowdown & Getting Beaten Up on Camera") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRSa9O0f0MU&t=94) `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2025, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/53 "2025-10-04T04:51:37Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Oh, me, too! And this is one where I like the movie better than the book! The score is magical. You and I love many of the same things. I _love_ the score!! I get goosebumps just hearing it in my mind. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/54 "2025-10-04T15:54:01Z")
Now you’ve given me goosebumps. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2025, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085/55 "2025-10-10T04:00:51Z")
When John Hughes died, his core cast (the TBC actors, Matthew Broderick, Mac Culkin) went onstage at the Oscars, to eulogize him. He was influential enough to merit that. Now, wouldn’t it be something if, at the next Oscars, there was a gathering of people who owe their success, even partially, to having made/been in a film that showed at Sundance? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-redford/1023085.md?page=2)