Key Takeaways:
- Actors Robert Redford and Paul Newman met on the set of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and later starred together in The Sting.
- The co-stars became lifelong friends who had houses within one mile of each other and who spent considerable time with each other’s families.
- Redford once pranked Newman by sending him a junked Porsche as a gag gift. It was one in a series of pranks between the friends.
During his illustrious career, Robert Redford shared the screen with icons such as Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Gene Hackman, and Barbra Streisand. However, no other actor proved as impactful on his life as Paul Newman.
It was Newman who was by Redford’s side when the future Academy Award winner, who died Tuesday at age 89, launched to stardom after the 1969 release of the Western classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In fact, it was Newman who helped the rising actor book the part. Redford later said it was the most fun he ever had making a movie, and their co-stars’ bond turned into a lifelong friendship.
Redford and Newman reunited onscreen four years later for another acclaimed movie, The Sting, but largely interacted away from cameras. The pair even became neighbors, resulting in a series of pranks that tested the limits of their humor.
“It didn’t require a lot of talk, but what came with it was fun,” Redford said. “I owe much of my career to Paul.”
Newman insisted on casting Redford in Butch Cassidy
Redford began his acting career on the Broadway stage in 1959 when he was in his early 20s. He appeared in productions of Tall Story, Sunday in the Park, and Barefoot in the Park, among others. He also had made guest appearances on TV series such as Perry Mason, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and The Twilight Zone.
He was still looking for his big break in movies when work began on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, loosely based on real-life outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker and Harry Longabaugh. Newman had been cast as Butch Cassidy, and 20th Century Fox was eyeing similarly established heavyweights for the role of Sundance. The movie studio initially offered the part to Jack Lemmon, Warren Beatty, and Steve McQueen.
When they all declined, Newman spoke up for Redford in spite of the young actor’s lack of film experience. “The studio didn’t want me because of that,” Redford told ABC News in 2008. “But [Newman] said, ‘I want to work with an actor,’ and that was very complimentary to me, because that’s, I think, how we both saw our profession, that acting was about craft, and we took it seriously, because we both came from the same background of theater in New York.”
The pair immediately hit it off, aside from one memorable argument about Redford’s frequent tardiness. Their chemistry together—Redford’s daughter Amy later called it the first true “bromance” onscreen—helped Butch Cassidy become the year’s top-grossing film. The Library of Congress later added the movie to the National Film Registry for preservation.
Redford and Newman appeared together only one other time in the 1973 Best Picture winner The Sting, but their bond away from the camera continued.
Redford and Newman were neighbors in Connecticut
Redford’s Butch Cassidy character inspired the new name for Utah’s Timp Haven ski resort after the actor purchased it in 1969. It then became the home of the Sundance Film Festival, which Redford’s Sundance Institute took ownership of in 1985. Despite these deep connections to Utah, Redford also had a house in Weston, Connecticut, starting in the late 1970s.
Newman, whose own career continued to shine in the hits Slap Shot (1977) and The Color of Money (1986), lived only a mile away in Westport, Connecticut. As a result, the actors and their respective families—Redford had three children at the time with his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen—spent a lot of time together. A source later told Closer Weekly that Newman’s children even referred to Redford as “Uncle Bobby.”
Redford and Newman also bonded over their love of cars. According to The Sting producer Michael Phillips, the two bought matching Porsches and raced them on California’s Pacific Coast Highway while making the movie. This also set the stage for a memorable practical joke involving both actors.
Redford staged an elaborate prank for Newman’s 50th birthday
As much as Redford and Newman respected each other for their acting ability, it’s clear they also shared a dark sense of humor. During a 1982 interview on BBC’s Talking Pictures, reporter Lain Johnstone asked Newman about rumors he had toilet paper rolls with Redford’s face on them. The actor hinted he planned to send them to Redford’s friends as a gag but didn’t have the courage to go through with it.
“I think there’s nine hundred and ninety-something odd rolls left,” Newman said with a laugh.
Meanwhile, Redford detailed their most elaborate prank in a 2014 conservation with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. The actor revealed that for Newman’s 50th birthday he decided to purchase a junked Porsche from a nearby towing service and have it delivered to his friend’s back porch.
A couple weeks later, Redford returned to his rental home and discovered a large wooden box. It turns out Newman had the car compacted and returned. “It took me about an hour-and-a-half to crowbar [the box] open,” Redford explained. “And inside was this big block of metal, just a big square block of metal. I said, ‘Oh, okay, I know what, okay, I get it.’”
Redford did get the last laugh, however. He asked a friend to turn the metallic cube into a sculpture for Newman’s garden.
Newman and Redford supported each other’s causes
The actors’ dynamic had a more serious side, too. After Newman died of lung cancer in September 2008, Redford shared in an essay that the pair supported each other financially and found individual outlets for their mutual desire to give back. “Paul and I didn’t see each other all that regularly, but sharing that brought us together,” the actor wrote.
For Redford, this took shape in supporting independent cinema through the Sundance Institute and film festival. Newman, meanwhile, founded the Newman’s Own line of food products, whose profits have resulted in more than $600 million in charitable donations. The Slap Shot star also helped start the Hole in the Wall Gang summer camp for children with chronic illnesses.
When the two did turn up at an event together, they would playfully “give each other a hard time” just like the close friends they were. “If you’re in a position of being viewed iconically, you’d better have a mechanism to take yourself down to keep the balance,” Newman wrote. “I think we did that for each other.”
Naturally, Newman’s death hit Redford hard. “There is a point where feelings go beyond words,” Redford said . “I have lost a real friend. My life—and this country—is better for his being in it.”
Almost two decades later, most would agree the same could be said about Redford.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
