Robert Redford, Oscar-winning actor and director, dies at 89

(NBC, KYMA) - Robert Redford, the actor and director who sailed to Hollywood stardom with turns in classics such as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and All the President's Men," died Tuesday morning at his home in Utah at the age of 89.

He also invigorated American independent cinema as one of the founders of the Sundance Film Festival.

For more than half a century, Robert Redford mesmerized us with some of Hollywood's most unforgettable characters.

Born in 1936, Charles Robert Redford, a rebellious teen after his mother's death, lost a baseball scholarship and was kicked out of college. So, he tried acting.

From there, he quickly landed roles on television and stage, soon earning top billing in "Barefoot in the Park," first as a broadway play in 1963 which then became a film four years later.

"We were walking down a corridor, and I noticed that all the secretaries saying, 'Oh my god, there he goes,' and I just thought to myself, 'Oh my god, this man is going to become a huge star,'" said Jane Fonda, Redford's co-star in the 1967 adaptation of "Barefoot in the Park."

Fonda was right. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Redford set the bar for leading men, but he worried about being typecast as just a pretty face.

"I got really nervous. Early on, when there was overreaction to something I'd done, and I got really nervous about what my life would be if I played into that," Redford shared.

So he was, admittedly, picky, but then, along came a western with Paul Newman, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

"I remember when I saw the film, I thought this is a dud. Well, because there was a song in the middle of it," Redford said, referring to "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and performed by B.J. Thomas.

That blockbuster catapulted Redford to super stardom, but another film, "The Way We Were," made him an icon.

After teaming up with Newman a second time for what would be another fan favorite, "The Sting," Redford wanted to try something new: Stepping behind the camera in 1980 and winning his first Oscar for "Ordinary People," the first of many films he directed.

But his legacy reaches far beyond Hollywood as Redford was an outspoken environmentalist, and a pioneer. As founder of the Sundance Film Festival, Redford provided a stage for independent filmmakers.

A legendary career from a man who didn't believe in looking back and who spent a lifetime giving us all something to remember.

"Don't look at your career as anything that gained momentum over time. Just keep going forward and focus on the future," Redford expressed.