Robert Redford, the star who overcame three family misfortunes
The eternal Hollywood heartthrob lived a discreet life marked by the death of two children and the early absence of his parents.
BarcelonaThere are Hollywood stars who, when they die, bring up past controversies they had with other stars, legal battles with their ex-partners, or even conflicts with journalists or politicians. This is not the case with Robert Redford, who He left us while he was sleeping at 89 this week. Upon hearing the news, the only thing that surfaced on social media and in the media were messages of admiration and affection from colleagues, who remembered him for his professional and personal side. Jane Fonda, with whom he shared the spotlight in the rom-com deluxe Barefoot in the park, he said exactly like this: "I was deeply shocked to read this morning that Bob had passed away [...] I can't stop crying. He meant so much to me and was a beautiful person in every way. He represented America, which we must continue to fight for." Demi Moore, Maryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ethan Hawkee did the same, saying their farewells with their best words.
This farewell on such good terms from everyone showed that the star had been grateful to everyone he had crossed paths with in his life. A positive way of living that, if we look at the difficult personal experiences he had to overcome, seems especially commendable. Although he was born into a working-class family that wasn't facing financial hardship, on an emotional level everything was much more complicated for him. With a very tense and distant relationship with his father, a milkman of Irish origin who had settled in California, it was an uncle who acted as a father to him. A close uncle who soon disappeared, because he died when Redford was only 9 years old. In fact, the actor and director had explained on occasion that his neighbors and coaches had a greater influence on him than his own father. However, in practice, he only had his mother, who became pregnant with twins when he was 18 and died at 41 during childbirth with both children.
Problems with alcohol
At the time, Redford was studying at the University of Colorado on a scholarship awarded to him for his talent as a baseball player. However, the loss of his mother led him to drink excessively, and as a result, he had to drop out of college. He later moved to Europe, a formative journey during which he studied art and painting in places like Paris and Florence. That trip to Europe ended in the late 1950s, when he returned to the US, where he studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, graduating in 1959.
and on television in 1960. He made his film debut in 1962, but far from establishing himself on the big screen, he became a leading figure on Broadway thanks to his play. Barefoot in the park, which he would later star in alongside Jane Fonda in 1967 in a film format.
These early days, marked by a meteoric rise to fame, were marred by another life blow. Married since 1958 to historian Lola van Wagenen, in 1959, just a year after their wedding, their first child died suddenly at just two months old. That loss marked the actor, who in 1966, as his career was taking off, decided to stray from the Hollywood path and moved to Spain, where he wanted to live a more bohemian life with his wife and their other children, Shauna and James. While living in places like Malaga and Mallorca, Redford received the offer to play the role with Fonda, which brought him back to America, where he ultimately made film history.
Hard blow at the end of life
Despite that turnaround, which involved a successful return to Hollywood and was accompanied in 1970 by the birth of his daughter Amy, life still had a tough blow in store for the actor. After divorcing the mother of his children in 1985—after 27 years together—and marrying German painter Sibylle Szaggars in 2009 after years of relationship, Redford had to overcome one of the greatest trials of his life. In 2020, his son James died of liver cancer, which he developed as a result of an autoimmune disease he had suffered from since childhood. "The pain is immeasurable for the loss of a child," said the 84-year-old actor at the time. James, who died at 58, had become a father and left him two grandchildren. During his lifetime, he helped open the Redford Center, an organization dedicated to producing documentaries and promoting environmental sustainability, a cause Redford remained committed to until his dying day.
Despite these shocks, Redford understood that surviving them discreetly would be the best option. Although he didn't hide from anything, he never made a display that could bring him more fame or affection from the general public. Nor did he do so with his romantic relationships, as is traditional in Hollywood, where celebrities They milk everything to expand their fame and never leave the media spotlight. Behind Redford's kind face was a life that hadn't been easy, with sorrows that can't be erased by two Oscars or all the applause in the world. Life's blows that perhaps helped him portray all the nuances of sadness in some of his roles. A heavy price to pay, which he turned into a gift for his viewers.
