Barbra Streisand had the Dolby Theatre in tears when she performed a tribute to Robert Redford during the Oscars on Sunday (March 15).
“I called him an intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail and won the Academy Award for best director. And I miss him now more than ever,” Streisand said.
Streisand sang The Way We Were, the title track to the 1973 film she starred in with Redford. The romantic drama, directed by Sydney Pollack, is considered one of film’s greatest love stories.
Written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Marvin Hamlisch, The Way We Were won the Oscar for original song. Streisand also performed the song to honour Hamlisch at the 2013 Oscars.
Streisand highlighted Redford’s “backbone, on and off the screen,” speaking about his efforts to support the free press, protect the environment and encourage new voices through his Sundance Institute based in Utah.
“He was thoughtful and bold,” Stresiand said.
When Redford died in September at 89, Streisand shared on Instagram that he was “one of a kind” and that she was “so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.”
“We were such opposites: he was from the world of horses; I was allergic to them! Yet, we kept trying to find out more about each other, just like the characters in the movie,” Streisand said. “Bob was charismatic, intelligent, intense, always interesting – and one of the finest actors ever.”
In Streisand’s 2023 memoir, My Name Is Barbra, she wrote that “Like the greatest movie stars, Bob understands the power of restraint.”
“Bob and I were genuinely curious about each other, and I believe that’s what comes across on the screen,” Streisand wrote in the book, “He and I had a real rapport and the audience could sense it.”
After The Way We Were, Redford went on to win an Academy Award in 1981 for his directorial debut, Ordinary People. He was nominated for three other Oscars and received an honorary Oscar in 2002, which Streisand presented to him. When introducing Redford, she credited him with giving her “one of the most exciting and memorable experiences” of her career.
“As an artiste, I just can’t think of a better life than the one that I’ve been blessed with,” Redford said in his acceptance speech. “It’s just a great ride, with many wonderful relationships and experiences along the way.” – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
