Lead: In an industry built on fleeting alliances and headline-making rivalries, Robert Redford and Paul Newman found something rare: a friendship that outlasted fame. From their breakout pairing in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to decades of mutual admiration, their bond became one of Hollywood’s most enduring stories.
After Paul Newman died of lung cancer at 83 in 2008, Robert Redford told ABC about a bond that began on the set of their 1969 classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Redford said their connection sprang from playing those two characters — an on-screen camaraderie that soon revealed deeper common ground off screen: shared interests, mutual respect and, importantly, an appreciation for craft.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid blended western bravado with buddy-comedy warmth, casting the pair as outlaws whose loyalty to one another carried the film. The movie won four Academy Awards, including recognition for its original screenplay, and it planted the seed for a real-life relationship that could have just as easily become rivalry, given the two men’s star power.
Redford, who died Tuesday at his Sundance home in Utah at age 89, often recalled how Newman’s support helped shape his career. Both men had roots in the theatre before they moved to film, and both treated acting as a serious craft. Newman pushed for Redford to be cast as the Sundance Kid — “I want to work with an actor,” New man reportedly said — a compliment Redford never forgot.
The partnership extended beyond Butch Cassidy: the duo reunited for The Sting (1973), another film that cemented both their legacies and deepened their friendship. They wanted their work to be judged on skill rather than looks, and both men pursued projects that reflected that commitment.
Their lives off camera mirrored their onscreen devotion. They were devoted family men who at one point lived within a mile of each other in Connecticut. Philanthropy was central to both: Redford devoted himself to environmental causes and independent filmmaking, while Newman started Newman’s Own, giving its profits to charity and founding the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for chronically ill children — an effort Redford praised as an example of Newman’s character.
Redford described Newman as someone who stood up for his convictions and valued family and craft above celebrity. “Playing friends, we became friends,” Redford said, adding with a laugh that Newman had a terrible sense of humor — and loved his own bad jokes.
Newman returned the sentiment. On Film 82, he credited his wife Joanne Woodward for suggesting Redford for Butch Cassidy and praised the pair’s chemistry: “We have a lot of fun together,” he said. Their friendship included a penchant for eccentric practical jokes — one legendary gag had Redford receive a crashed Porsche with a bow on it, later compacted and delivered to his house, proving their camaraderie was as mischievous as it was affectionate.
