NEED TO KNOW
- Robert Redford, who died on Sept. 16 at age 89, said he owed his film career to Natalie Wood
- Wood, who died in 1981 at age 43, helped Redford land his breakout movie role, 1965’s Inside Daisy Clover
- Redford and Wood remained friends for the rest of her life, and he stayed close with her family after her death
Robert Redford’s breakout movie was 1965’s Inside Daisy Clover, opposite Natalie Wood. Their connection actually began back in high school, and the pair became close friends while working together. Redford, who died Sept. 16 at age 89, stayed close with her family and friends after Wood’s tragic death during a 1981 boat trip at age 43.
Wood’s daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner, remembered Redford in a post on her Instagram page for her mother. “Heartbroken at the news of the passing of Natalie‘s dear friend Robert Redford,” she wrote in part.
“Actor, Environmentalist, Storyteller, Director, Producer and one of the greatest of Hollywood Legends . . . but above all Human Being and Friend. Robert Redford cared about everyone and everything on this planet,” she added. “Rest In Peace 🙏🏻❤️🦋.” Gregson Wagner shared in another post that Redford was also good friends with her father, Richard Gregson.
Redford remembered Wood in the 2020 documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind, which premiered at his Sundance Film Festival. “She had a big heart and that showed up in her work,” he said.
Ahead, revisit Redford and Wood’s friendship.
Redford and Wood met in high school
Redford and Wood both attended Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, graduating two years apart. Wood had already been working for years as a child and teen actress, but Redford hadn’t found his passion for the craft yet.
Wood was impressed when she saw Redford on Broadway
Wood and her then-husband Robert Wagner saw Redford perform on Broadway in Sunday in New York during its run from November 1961 to May 1962. When she visited him backstage, Redford remembered her from high school, though she didn’t remember him.
“I was very flattered,” Redford said of the visit in Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind.
Wood helped Redford get cast in Inside Daisy Clover
“I certainly owe the beginning of my career in film to her,” Redford explained in Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind. He was primarily a theater actor with few TV and movie credits on his résumé when his name came up for Inside Daisy Clover, which was released in 1965. “I wasn’t known,” he said, but Wood remembered him from Sunday in New York and went to bat for him. He landed the part.
Wood and Redford bonded while making Inside Daisy Clover
In contrast to Redford, Inside Daisy Clover was Wood’s 38th film, but the pair found closeness on set. Redford said in 2012’s Robert Redford: The Biography by Michael Feeney Callan that he was attracted to her, “But I was aware very early on of the liability of intimacy with the women you act with.
“There are two industries: the film business and the paradise called the gossip industry, which can devour you,” he continued. Still, he said he loved Wood’s “seriousness” and noted, “Nat and I became tight.”
Callan quoted Wood at the time as telling the magazine Photoplay of Redford, “He’s the most unbendable actor I know. He sticks to his principles when all about him are shedding theirs. He is unbribable by fame. He’d sooner starve than conform.”
Redford and Wood quickly reunited for This Property Is Condemned
Wood’s next project was This Property Is Condemned, a Tennessee Williams adaptation, and she wanted Redford as her leading man again so they could stay connected. The script was poor, and Redford told Callan, “The only appeal was Natalie.” Still, he said yes. The movie was directed by Sydney Pollack, with whom he also became good friends. They would work together six more times, including in the classics The Way We Were and Out of Africa.
Redford and Wood remained close friends and collaborators
In 1969, Redford starred in Downhill Racer, set in the world of skiing. Gregson Wagner noted skiing was “a passion” both Redford and Wood shared. Richard Gregson produced the film, and Callan noted that Wood helped with the script. She also assisted on set and appeared, disguised, as an extra in some scenes.
Wood and Gregson married in 1969, and Redford served as best man. The couple split in 1972.
Wood and Redford’s last time working together was 1972’s The Candidate, a political comedy-drama that Redford starred in with Peter Boyle. Wood had a cameo as herself.
“Without a thought, without a question… she just came and did it,” Redford said in 2020’s Natalie Wood: The Complete Biography by Suzanne Finstad. “There was no calling the agent, no deals.”
Wood remarried Robert Wagner in 1972. She pulled away from acting, focusing on raising her daughters, Natasha and Courtney, and had only a few more on-screen appearances before her death.
Richard Gregson died in 2019 at age 89.
Wagner wrote on Instagram of Redford’s death, “I’ve lost a lifelong friend with the passing of Robert Redford. Our families shared many memories together over the years, and I will always treasure his kindness, wisdom, and friendship. Bob was a true original — both on screen and off. My heart is with his loved ones during this time.”
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