Robert Redford's Roles Trivia Quiz

Answer: Naked City

Robert Redford played Jimmy Coleman in the "Maverick" episode, 'The Iron Hand', which aired February 21, 1960.

Redford appeared on the May 2, 1960, "Hallmark Hall of Fame" broadcast, 'Captain Brassbound's Conversion', in which he took the part of Blue Jacket. Greer Garson was also in the cast.

The "Perry Mason" episode, 'The Case of the Treacherous Toupee' (September 17, 1960), included Robert Redford as Dick Hart.

He did appear on "Naked City", in the episode titled 'Tombstone for a Derelict', originally aired on April 1, 1961, as a character named Baldwin.

Answer: War Hunt

Robert Redford had made an earlier uncredited appearance as a basketball player in 'Tall Story' (1960), but these films were four of Redford's first five film credits. After "War Hunt" (1962) there were a lot of television appearances before his next film, "Situation Hopeless ... But Not Serious" (1965). This was quickly followed by "Inside Daisy Clover" (1965), "The Chase" (1966) and "This Property is Condemned" (1966), and the transition to the big screen was accomplished.

Tom Skerritt and Sydney Pollack also made their film acting debuts along with Robert Redford in "War Hunt". In 1992, Tom Skerritt was the father of the family in "A River Runs Through It", directed by Redford. He has appeared in many television shows - my personal favorite was "Picket Fences".

Sydney Pollack has become better known as a director, including a number of films starring Robert Redford, including "Jeremiah Johnson", "The Way We Were", "Three Days of the Condor" and "Out of Africa".

Answer: Barefoot in the Park

All four films were based on Neil Simon stage plays. "Barefoot in the Park" was a romantic comedy which starred Redford and Fonda as newlyweds, Corrie and Paul Bratter, struggling to cope with life in a 5th-floor walkup apartment. He was an uptight lawyer, she wanted him to relax and have fun. It was a comedy, so she won. Released in 1967, it also featured Mildred Natwick (who had also appeared in the Broadway production) as Corrie's mother.

"The Odd Couple" (1968) starred Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as two men struggling to adjust to each other's disparate personalities as they shared an apartment.

"The Out-of-Towners" (1970) starred Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis as a couple encountering a seemingly unending series of calamities as they arrived in New York City.

"The Last of the Red Hot Lovers" featured Alan Arkin and the trio of Sally Kellerman, Paula Prentiss and Renee Taylor in the story of a bachelor trying to find a satisfactory relationship.

Answer: Downhill Racer

"Downhill Racer" followed the progress of a gifted but socially inept skier as he joined the US ski team, and went for gold at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics - anything to get away from home.

"Little Fauss and Big Halsey" (1970) was the story of two motorcycle racers, with the tagline 'Little Fauss and Big Halsey are not your father's heroes'. Robert Redford played an unlikable character for a change!

"Tell Them Willie Boy is Here" (1969) told the tale of an Indian youth (Robert Blake) who killed his girlfriend's father in self-defense. This resulted in a relentless manhunt, unwillingly led by the local sheriff Christopher 'Coop' Cooper (Robert Redford). The girlfriend was Katherine Ross (despite her blue eyes, and with incredibly poor makeup).

"The Chase" (1966) featured Redford as a prison escapee. It also starred Marlon Brando and Jane Fonda.

Answer: The Way We Were

"The Way We Were" (1973) depicted the tempestuous relationship between aspiring writer Hubbell (Redford) and the fiesty left-wing political activist Katie (Barbra Streisand). Many remember the film more for its title song than for its searing indictment of the impact of McCarthyism on American society during the 1950s.

"The Candidate" (1972) showed the formation of a presidential candidate, Bill McKay.

"The Natural" (1984) was the story of a talented but undisciplined baseball player, Roy Hobbs.

"Sneakers" (1992) was a film about computer hackers, in which Redford's character was Martin Bishop.

Answer: Three Days of the Condor

"Three Days of the Condor" (1975) featured Redford as Joe Turner, a low-ranked CIA employee who became enmeshed in murderous intrigue, fleeing from his own paranoid bosses.

"The Hot Rock" (1972) was a lightweight caper flick in which Redford played a recently-released convict who assembled a team of cat burglars in order to regain a valuable sacred gem, stolen from an African nation in colonial times, and now residing in a museum.

"Brubaker"(1980) showed the struggles of a new prison warden dealing with the corruption that surrounded him. He arrived in the guise of a transferred prisoner, to experience first-hand what their treatment was like.

In "The Last Castle" (2001), Redford played court-martialled Lt. General Eugene Irwin, who inspired his fellow inmates to rise against the brutality of the prison warden (played by James Gandolfini of "Sopranos" fame).

Answer: Up Close and Personal

"Up Close and Personal" (1996) was the story of a romance between two journalists. Redford was Warren Justice, first television boss of Michelle Pfeiffer's ambitious young newswoman, Tally Atwater.

"Out of Africa" (1985) was based on the real-life relationship between a Danish baroness and owner of a Kenyan plantation (Karen Blixen, played by Meryl Streep) and a big-game hunter (Redford's Deny Finch Hatton).

"Havana" (1990) featured Redford as Jack Weil, a gambler who fell in love on his way to Havana for a big poker game.

In "Indecent Proposal" (1993) Redford was John Gage, a billionaire of indeterminate profession, who offered a million dollars to a young couple in order to spend an evening with the wife.

Answer: The Horse Whisperer

Robert Redford directed all four of these movies, but only starred in "The Horse Whisperer" (1998). He did provide the narrator's voice (uncredited) in "A River Runs Through It" (1992). He was producer as well as director for "A River Runs Through It", "The Milagro Beanfield War" (1988) and "Quiz Show" (1994).

Answer: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

We couldn't avoid it forever! Redford and Paul Newman teamed for the first time in this Western Comedy/Drama, but it nearly didn't happen. Paul Newman's partner was originally planned to be Steve McQueen (at which time the working title was "The Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy"); then Jack Lemmon turned the part down because he was busy filming "The Odd Couple".

The result is cinema legend. If you can't recite a myriad of classic lines and re-enact a slew of memorable scenes, you probably aren't reading this note anyway!

Answer: The Sting

Redford and Newman teamed again in this 1973 release. The movie was much more entertaining than the actual era was, as two grifters undertook a huge scam, and we wondered just how far they could actually trust each other as the plot twisted and turned.

"Tell Them Willie Boy is Here" (1969) was a dramatization of actual events that occurred in 1909. The director, Abraham Polonsky, was making his return to mainstream films 18 years after he was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee.

"All the President's Men" (1976) re-enacted the work of Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) in uncovering the Watergate scandal which led to the resignation of U. S. President Richard Nixon.

"A Bridge Too Far" (1977) was billed as 'an historic telling of the failed attempt to capture several bridges to Germany in World War II in a campaign called Operation Market-Garden.' (imdb.com)

At the time of writing (March, 2006) another film project featuring Redford and Newman is strongly rumored - here's hoping!