AUSTIN (KXAN) — Robert Redford was well known for many things; he was an actor, an Oscar-winning director, the founder of the Sundance Film Festival, the godfather of independent cinema, an activist and environmentalist, and more.
Redford died on Tuesday at 89, and many film lovers are recounting his legacy to honor him.
While Redford’s roles and work in film are what he’s most famous for, the indie film patriarch also had strong ties to the Austin area, including one of Texas’ most famous swimming holes.
Redford spent time in Austin during his formative years, since his mother and grandfather were from the city. He talked about his road trips from California to Texas in an interview with Orion magazine just last year.
Redford said in that interview that those trips between California and Texas were what introduced him to the landscape of the Southwest and the Native American people, which he said led him to develop a respect for their deep spiritual and cultural connection to the land, and ultimately, that became a “guiding principle” in his approach to working to protect the planet, he told the magazine.
That environmentalism and familial connection to Texas led to the creation of two of his documentaries: “Fighting Goliath: The Texas Coal Wars” and “The Unforeseen,” which he produced with Terrence Malick.
“The Unforeseen” told the story of an environmental threat to Austin’s beloved Barton Springs, the swimming hole that Redford learned to swim in, according to the city of Austin. The documentary is about the battle between real estate developer Tom Bradley, who wanted to build a subdivision, and environmentalists who feared the development would taint the aquifer that fed Barton Springs, according to the synopsis on the doc’s Rotten Tomatoes page.
According to a Chron article published in 2008, Redford was involved in that fight in a direct way, as he visited Austin a number of times to work with Ann Richers, Jim Hightower, and others to raise funds for a campaign against the development.
Redford’s other Texas environmental documentary, “Fighting Goliath: The Texas Coal Wars,” follows the story of Texans fighting against the construction of 19 coal-fired power plants that were planned to be built in Eastern and Central Texas, according to VideoProject.org.
A piece of history that inspired one of the greatest films Redford played a part in, “All The President’s Men,” is held in Austin at the University of Texas. The Woodward and Bernstein Watergate papers reside at the Ransom Center.
For the 35th anniversary of the movie’s release, Redford, Bob Woodward, and Carl Bernstein visited the LBJ Library in 2011 to talk about the film. Materials related to the film and Watergate scandal were on display as part of an exhibition, “Culture Unbound: Collecting in the Twenty-First Century,” that marked the anniversary.
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Actor Robert Redford makes a point during a panel discussion on Watergate in conjunction with an exhibit of memorabilia from Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s reporting that brought down the Nixon White House in 1974. Woodward and partner Carl Bernstein have given most of their Watergate papers to the University of Texas at Austin. (Photo by Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images) -
Legendary newsmen Bob Woodward (c) and Carl Bernstein (r) listen to a question from actor Robert Redford (l) during a panel discussion on Watergate in conjunction with an exhibit of memorabilia from their reporting that brought down the Nixon White House in 1974. Redford played Woodward in the hit movie “All the President’s Men”. (Photo by Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images) -
Actor Robert Redford speaks during a discussion on Watergate in conjunction with an exhibit of memorabilia from Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s reporting that brought down the Nixon White House in 1974. Redford played Woodward in the hit movie “All the President’s Men”. (Photo by Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images)
Redford is also recognized as an “honorary San Martian” for his “deep Hays County roots,” according to the city of San Marcos.
According to the city, Redford had corresponded with Lost River Film Fest leaders in recent years and shared reflections on his family’s heritage and his childhood summers visiting San Marcos.
According to the city, Redford had great-great-grandfathers who were instrumental in the early days of the city’s development. They were Zachariah Bugg, the first sheriff of Hays County, for whom Bugg Lane is named, where the San Marcos post office sits; and Ed J. L. Green, who organized the First National Bank of San Marcos and made the city one of the first in Texas equipped with electricity, via the Electric Light & Power Company, which he owned.
The Caldwell/Hays Examiner is planning to screen Redford’s “The Great Waldo Pepper,” which was filmed all over Caldwell County and parts of San Marcos, later this fall for the film’s 50th anniversary.
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