Remembering Robert Redford: Yahoo readers share their favorite movies, memories of the Hollywood star

Robert Redford stood tall among a rare class of Hollywood legends.

Moviegoers fell in love with the big-screen charmer, whether he was playing the heartthrob, outlaw or “Wonderboy”-swinging baseball star. The Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Natural actor carried a confidence and cool that appealed to all. Redford became an Oscar-winning director, a champion of independent filmmaking through his Sundance Film Festival and an advocate for environmental causes.

As news of his death on Sept. 16 at age 89 spread, Yahoo readers reflected on the legacy of an icon who helped shape the New Hollywood era of filmmaking. You shared your favorite Redford films — and what you remembered most about seeing them. You told stories about how meeting him felt like “being in the presence of a superhero” and how he inspired your career paths.

His influence, onscreen and off, touched so many of your lives in meaningful ways that we decided to gather some of your posts in our comments section. They have been edited for length and clarity.

The films you’ll never forget

Redford lives on in the movies he starred in and the stories he told from behind the camera. Here, Yahoo users tell us about their favorite films.

“As an actor, my favorite was The Natural, a fairy tale of striving to be the best, which never fails to inspire me, no matter how many times I've seen it. ‘There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was’ still gets me. As a director, the list of [his] incredible work is very long, but A River Runs Through It and The Horse Whisperer top my list. Subtle, character-driven works that demonstrate the importance of the individual and show that compelling stories don't require blowing up spaceships.” — Wayne

“The Sting is one of my all-time favorites. Paul Newman, Robert Shaw and now Robert Redford gone.” — T

“Although [he was] best known for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, my favorite movie was The Way We Were.” — Gary

“A Robert Redford movie that's often overlooked is The Candidate. It's a study in politics, money, influence, stuff still relevant today.” — Bugtussle

“The guy was a great actor who I enjoyed in several movies but my personal favorite of his was Sneakers. Great cast and very entertaining.” — Redbeard

“Anyone remember This Property Is Condemned with Natalie Wood? One of his early movies. Great actor, with an impressive range of work. He will be missed.” — John

“We normally focus on Redford's iconic roles, but his [directorial debut] Ordinary People was a multi-Oscar winner and nominee. It's film at its best, with meaning, impact, and nuance.” — User

“Jeremiah Johnson is a movie you can watch and escape to anytime the current world gets too insane and unbearable.” — Phantom

"All Is Lost was [one of] the last, and one of his best, films. Even though there was hardly any dialogue, Mr. Redford was still able to pull this action-adventure film off. And he was 77!” — Daniel

“Barefoot in the Park. The Way We Were. I loved him.” — Elizabeth

“My favorite actor in terms of who he was as a person of all time. Also, the sexiest. Ladies, if you haven't seen Out of Africa, I highly recommend it. Robert and Meryl [Streep] are GREAT in that movie.” — Cassie

“HOT TIP: Watch the great movie Spy Game with Redford and Brad Pitt in it.” — David

The moments you remember

You didn’t just enjoy Redford’s most unforgettable roles; you can remember where you were and who you were with while you watched him light up the screen.

“I remember in 1969 sitting in the backseat of my parents' car watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at a drive-in movie screen in the desert outside of El Paso, Texas. The stuff memories are made of.” — Michael

“I was an utterly miserable and poor college freshman when The Sting came to the second-run multiplex near my school. The matinee was just a buck. I went alone seven weeks in a row, out of the eight weeks it was playing. I loved Scott Joplin's music, the 1930s setting, the clothes, the breaking of society's rules in ways that were so much more exciting than what passed for a social life in my football-obsessed university. I enjoyed those two hours each week more than anything else I did that entire year.” — Susan

“I've watched Jeremiah Johnson more times than I can remember. I first saw it during the summertime, but all the winter scenes made me shiver. They were so well done! Great cast, great scenery.” — David

“I remember watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as a child with my parents in 1969. The years flew by so fast.” — Carl

“I enjoyed most of his work. His role in The Natural so reminded me of my grandpa. His mannerisms, how he dressed for that role, even how he swung a bat.” — DB

“I was born in '86, so many of the really glamorous stars of the great Hollywood era were not really in my view until I was much older and started to appreciate film… Newman and Redford were my dad's absolute favorite actors and he introduced me to their films (with them appearing together or separately) early on. Butch and Sundance were the coolest to me as a kid, even though I was a sports-obsessed German girl who otherwise had no interest in westerns or bro-y films like that.” — FSt

“He was just a different kinda dude, one that exuded cool without really trying. I liked the entire body of his work, which for me started with the Twilight Zone episode “Nothing in the Dark” (1962). Mr. Redford, along with the great Gladys Cooper, wove the story of life and death in a way that was both beautiful and sublime, it has stayed with me to this day.” — Charles

The star everyone fell for

Redford was a heartthrob through and through. He was also an archetype of masculinity.

“The Way We Were came out in 1973. I was 13 [and] I fell head over heels.” — Patricia

“My mom just told me she took my late grandma to see The Way We Were in the theater and she leaned over and said, ‘He is so good looking!’ I just can't picture my sweet grandma saying that.” — Penelope

“[I] have loved him since I first saw him in Three Days of the Condor. Great spy movie. He was so handsome. ” — Ana

“As a longtime fan who ventured into a movie theater at 13 to watch Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Robert Redford was what every young boy wanted to be. Handsome, foremost the great actor and director, and add to that a great humanitarian and role model for that young boy of the 1960s.” — Gary

“My favorite actor. In the early ’70s, I was in my teens. I was dancing my first dance with a girl named Robin. She looked at me and said, ‘You're real handsome.’ To which I replied, ‘Thanks, but I'm no Robert Redford.’ And she said, ‘Close enough.’” — Donnie Pearson

“Back in the day, he was the most handsome [man] that ever graced this planet! I'm so sad that he's gone, he definitely was a one-of-a-kind man's man!” — Logic

Personal connections

A few of you even had stories of seeing Redford in person — and those moments stuck with you forever.

“I chose my profession because of one of his movies. I sat next to him one night at his restaurant, the Tree Room at Sundance [Resort]. I saw him a couple of times in Park City where I lived for 30 years. RIP Mr Redford — you truly were the [ultimate] Natural.” — Blaine

“He received an honorary [degree] at my graduation in 1987. A really great actor and film director.” — Andre

“I met him [in] 1972 or 73. He was here in Florida doing something for a movie — pretty sure it was on the train to Miami. Hell, I was only like 6 or 7, but, boy, I knew Robert Redford even then. It was like being in the presence of a superhero or something.” — J