Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were close friends in real life, but actor Paul Newman has admitted to harbouring resentments against young Robert Redford while shooting.
Both Newman as Robert LeRoy Parker, better known as “Butch Cassidy,” and Redford as Harry Longabaugh, better known as “Sundance Kid,” were convincing in their roles as the Wild West criminals on the run.
The film based on real-life criminals won four Academy Awards in 1969 and is still considered a classic. Four years later, in 1973’s The Sting, the two beautiful heartthrobs reteamed for another caper picture.
Both Newman and Redford have achieved legendary status, and their collaboration was really remarkable. But have you ever pondered the stars of Hollywood’s private lives?
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 western starring Robert Redford (left) and Paul Newman. (Image: John Springer Collection / CORBIS / Corbis / Getty Images))
Newman, who portrayed Butch at the age of 44, said that he coveted the part that Redford, then 33, eventually took on.
According to an interview with BBC’s Talking Pictures, Newman noted, “We have a lot of fun together, we bounce off each other real well.
” He said, “I would have liked have played Sundance instead. Having a more relaxed demeanour makes me feel more at ease. Well, that’s the easy part, I guess!
Rising star Robert Redford won the Golden Globe for New Star of the Year in 1965 for his work opposite Natalie Wood in Inside Daisy Clover.
After starring in such blockbusters as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) with Elizabeth Taylor and Cool Hand Luke (1967), Newman was already a household name (source: Shutterstock / Getty).
Redford was cast in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid after Steve McQueen declined the role; McQueen also declined roles in Dirty Harry (1971).
The French Connection (1971), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). The film starred and was directed by Paul Newman, who was already winning acting and directing honours.
The two actors reportedly weren’t close friends at the time, as stated in Newman’s memoir “The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir,” as reported by the BBC.
You can’t count on Redford,” Newman warned. You can never be sure that he will show up. That’s not polite in the slightest.
Their youngest daughter, Claire Newman Soderlund, whom he had with his second wife Joanne Woodward, has indicated that she thinks their arguments sprang from their different perspectives on the workplace.
Hollywood actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Images courtesy of ALBAN/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images)
My dad was a tremendous stickler for punctuality, and Bob, it was never one of his strong suits,” she said. Dad put in a lot of long hours.
He put in a lot of time and effort because he cared about doing well, unlike Bob, who was more of a free spirit. “It was just that connection of playing those characters and the fun of it that really began.
The relationship,” Redford, then 86 years old, told ABC News after Newman’s 2008 death from lung cancer: “It was just that connection of playing those characters and the fun of it.”
“Once the film began, once we moved forward, we discovered other similarities that just multiplied over time,” the author writes.
“We found a common ground that we both had between us, interests, and so on and so forth.”After their successful turn as famous outlaws and con artists in The Sting.
Newman and Redford considered doing a third picture together but ultimately decided against it. In the 2015 film version of Bill Bryson’s 1998 book of the same name.
A Walk in the Woods, this very nearly occurred. The narrative follows two out-of-shape elderly men as they set out to hike the difficult Appalachian Trail together.
Redford cast and produced the picture having his real-life friend Newman in mind back in 2005. In an interview with Yahoo in 2015, Redford said.
“It all started with Paul, since Paul and I were looking for our third film to do together.” Time had passed and I still hadn’t located it. This novel made me immediately think of Paul.
According to the interview, Redford, who was 79 at the time, gave the book to Newman, but Newman wasn’t sure he could handle the physical requirements of the job.
Both Newman and Redford are renowned performers, and their friendship has flourished ever since they first worked together on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The performers became like brothers when living in Connecticut, where they were just a mile apart. We both came to know one other’s weaknesses quite well.
” Redford recalled after his friend passed away. Obviously, I had the weight advantage over him. But we knew each other well enough to play to our weaknesses and attempt to fool one another.
It was so much fun trying to surprise each other that it started to seem like a situation in and of itself. When asked to elaborate, he said, “Paul really likes to have fun, and he loves to laugh.
And he really especially loves to laugh at his own jokes, and some of them are just really awful.” So much so that you’d forget the joke and start laughing along with him just because he was having so much fun telling them.
The classic combo of Paul Newman and Robert Redford was played with such chemistry. Share your thoughts on the similarities and differences between their on-screen friendship and their real-life friendship.