For Robert Redford, we can only say that he worked at the Elitch’s Theatre in “cir. 1956/1957″…because we don’t actually have a record of him working at the Theatre! However, according to Redford himself, the summer after he dropped out of the theatre program at University of Colorado in Boulder, he spent the summer working at Elitch’s Theatre. (The summer may be 1956 or 1957.)
We don’t have a record of a show that he appeared in, so he did not have a speaking part and was not in a program, but he may have been part of the crew or an extra. However, Redford himself has confirmed that he worked at the theatre, so we are more than happy to claim him as an alum!
Seasons at the Theatre
- 1956 or 1957
Elitch Theatre Productions/Roles:
- No record…
Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:
- Redford won the 1980 Academy Award for Best Director for the film Ordinary People.
- In 1996, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton.
- President Barack Obama honored Redford with a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Elitch Theatre Connections:
- In Broadway’s 1960 production of Little Moon of Alban, original Broadway cast included Redford as Dennis Walsh and HET alumna, Julie Harris, as Brigid Mary Mangan.\
- Ordinary People (1980) Redford directed this film and alumni, Judd Hirsch, played Dr. Berger.
- Redford appeared in the Perry Mason episode, The Case of the Treacherous Toupee, with Elitch Alum, Raymond Burr.
- “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour” – “A Piece of the Action” TV episode, 1962 HET Alum, Gig Young, co-starred with Redford as brothers (Young as “Duke,” Redford as his brother “Chuck”).
