Butch and Sundance

"The first time I remember women reacting to me was when we were filming Hud in Texas. Women were literally trying to climb through the transoms at the motel where I stayed. At first, it's flattering to the ego. At first. Then you realize that they're mixing me up with the roles I play - characters created by writers who have nothing to do with who I am." - Paul Newman

"People say I've gone against Hollywood, but I've tried to be independent within Hollywood, tried to be my own person." - Robert Redford

Over the course of his long film career, Paul Newman was once one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood during his peak, and that was decades before he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Color of Money (1986), one of the eight times he was nominated for an Oscar. Having come to prominence as a handsome but rebellious young man in the mold of James Dean, Newman was able to maintain an aura that viewers found both cool and irresistible even into his 60s, typically an age when leading men find themselves on the outs. Newman was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Road to Perdition (2002), when he was in his late 70s, and he continued working in the industry until just shortly before his death in 2008.

While Newman was a recognizable film star in his time, younger generations know Newman more as a pop culture fixture than as a movie star. Newman acted and directed in Hollywood for six decades, but he was noteworthy off the screen for various pursuits, including running a racing team that was successful in IndyCar racing, but especially for the food products that bore his name. Newman established the food company Newman's Own as a philanthropic endeavor, once joking, "When I realized I was going to have to be a whore, to put my face on the label, I decided that the only way I could do it was to give away all the money we make. Over the years, that ethical stance has given us a 30 per cent boost. One in three customers buys my products because all the profits go to good causes and the rest buy the stuff because it is good." Although he started jokingly referring to himself as the "star of oil and vinegar and the oil and vinegar of the stars," consumers still find Newman's face on labels for goods like salad dressing and popcorn, and the brand name is still very popular today, helping carry Newman's name and legacy forward.

Redford is now considered one of the leading figures of art house cinema, not only in America but across the world as well. Presiding over the Sundance Film Festival, which is housed in his figurative backyard in Park City, Utah, Redford oversees the leading festival for independent cinema in the United States, facilitating exposure to art house films that otherwise would have struggled to find any distribution and transforming Sundance into a wildly successful company in its own right. Meanwhile, over the last few decades, Redford's career has placed him among the great Hollywood actors of his generation, alongside the likes of Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Dustin Hoffman. Moreover, where Redford separates himself from these other figures of acting royalty is that he is also an accomplished director, as evidenced by the successes of Ordinary People (1980), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992) and other films. Clearly, Redford has distanced himself as far as possible from the "golden boy" label that constrained him early in his career.

This book examines the lives and careers of both legendary actors. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about Paul Newman and Robert Redford like never before.