This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Before he was the Sundance Kid, before he was "Barefoot in the Park," even before he made his first TV appearance in a "Maverick" episode in 1960, Robert Redford married a woman from Provo.
That 1958 marriage began a Redford-Utah connection that is now approaching 60 years.
Redford joins other American legends in receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House today, and it is an honor his fellow Utahns can share in. Our most famous non-native son is adding one more accolade in a career that is without peer — here or anywhere.
In the 1960s, Redford bought a small piece of land in Provo Canyon, which led to the larger purchase of nearby "Timp Haven" ski resort in 1968, a year before the release of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" made him a megastar.
So enamored was he with the country below Mount Timpanogos that he and director Sydney Pollack sold Warner Bros. on filming "Jeremiah Johnson" in Utah in 1971. The mountain man movie became both a critical and box office success at a time when the nation's environmental conscience was awakening. The natural beauty of Utah was a supporting actor, and the state's tourist industry never looked back.
It is at that intersection of film and nature that Redford built his legacy, a legacy of standing up to power and money when integrity requires it.
As Utah's most recognized environmentalist, Redford has argued passionately to preserve wilderness in the state, battling mining and drilling interests and their short-term gains. It put him at odds with the state's political leaders at times, but he has been careful to choose his battles. That has assured that his words are considered thoughtfully. Even if they disagree with him, no Utah politicians want to take him on directly.
And his commitment to take over the little-known Utah/U.S. Film Festival more than 30 years ago nurtured a major cultural force in Utah.
From the world's perspective, the Sundance Film Festival is the most important event to happen in Utah each year. Under Redford's vision and guidance, Sundance is now synonymous not just with film, but with independent film, staking out turf where creativity holds its own against the commercial demands of Hollywood studios.
He literally changed movies, and he did it from the hinterlands of Utah.
Congratulations, Mr. Redford, and thank you for casting Utah in its recurring role. At 80 years old, you're still our Sundance Kid.