Claim: Robert Redford began his career in 1960.

Charles Robert Redford Jr. -LRB- born August 18 , 1936 -RRB- is an American actor , director , producer , businessman , environmentalist , and philanthropist . Redford is the founder of the Sundance Film Festival .   Redford 's career began in 1960 as a guest star on numerous TV shows , including : The Untouchables , Perry Mason , Alfred Hitchcock Presents , and The Twilight Zone , among others . He earned an Emmy nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Voice of Charlie Pont -LRB- 1962 -RRB- . His greatest Broadway success was as the stuffy newlywed husband of Elizabeth Ashley in Neil Simon 's Barefoot in the Park -LRB- 1963 -RRB- .   Redford made his film debut in War Hunt -LRB- 1962 -RRB- . His role in Inside Daisy Clover -LRB- 1965 -RRB- won him a Golden Globe for best new star . He starred in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid -LRB- 1969 -RRB- , which was a huge success and made him a major star . In 1972 , he had a critical and box office hit with Jeremiah Johnson -LRB- 1972 -RRB- , and in 1973 had the greatest hit of his career , the blockbuster crime caper The Sting , for which he was nominated for an Academy Award . The popular and acclaimed All the President 's Men -LRB- 1976 -RRB- was a landmark film for Redford .   The first film that Redford directed , Ordinary People -LRB- 1980 -RRB- , was one of the most critically and publicly acclaimed films of the decade , winning four Oscars , and in the same year , he starred in Brubaker -LRB- 1980 -RRB- . He starred in Out of Africa -LRB- 1985 -RRB- , which was an enormous critical and box office success , and won seven Oscars including Best Picture , proving to be his greatest success of the decade . He released his third film as a director , A River Runs Through It , in 1992 .   Redford won the Academy Award for Best Director in 1981 for directing Ordinary People . He was previously nominated for Best Actor in 1974 for his performance in The Sting , and went on to receive Best Director and Best Picture nominations in 1995 for Quiz Show . He won a second Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2002 . In 2010 , he was made a chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur . He has won BAFTA , Directors Guild of America , Golden Globe , and Screen Actors Guild Awards .   In April 2014 , Time magazine included Redford in their annual Time 100 as one of the `` Most Influential People in the World '' , declaring him the `` Godfather of Indie Film '' . In 2016 , President Barack Obama honored Redford with a Presidential Medal of Freedom .