Academy Award-winning actor Robert Redford has announced his retirement from acting after a career spanning nearly six decades. The 81-year-old Hollywood star will end his 56-year film career with his final movie, The Old Man & The Gun, and said he is glad to go out on an 'upbeat and positive' note.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Redford said: 'Never say never, but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting, and [I'll] move towards retirement after this because I've been doing it since I was 21.' He added: 'I thought, 'Well, that's enough'. And why not go out with something that's very upbeat and positive?'
Redford, who has seven grandchildren, first announced two years ago he was planning to stop working after finishing his remaining projects. The twice-married father of four previously said he would focus on directing when he finished acting, but told the publication: 'We'll see about that.'
Born in Santa Monica, California in 1936, Redford began his acting career on stage in New York City in the 1950s. He made his screen debut in the 1962 film War Hunt and won a Golden Globe for Best New Star for his 1965 role in Inside Daisy Clover. He reached major stardom following the success of the 1969 Western classic Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, where he played a Wild West outlaw alongside Paul Newman.
Redford married his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen, in 1958. The couple had four children together, including son Scott Anthony who died as a baby from sudden infant death syndrome. They divorced in 1985, but the split was not made public until 10 years later due to Redford's guarded private life.
