While real-life outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were closely bonded, actor Paul Newman revealed that at the time filming, he had some resentments over the young Robert Redford.
A real testament to their acting skills, Newman, playing Robert LeRoy Parker or “Butch Cassidy,” and Redford as Harry Longabaugh “Sundance Kid,” were persuasive in their portrayals of the Wild West buddies, notorious criminals who were on the run from the law after a string of bank and train robberies.
The 1969 movie about the real-life outlaws won four Oscars and holds up as one of the greatest Westerns ever made. Four years later, the stars–both handsome heartthrobs–partnered up again for another caper film, The Sting (1973).
Newman and Redford are both legends and together, they made magic happen. But have you ever wondered how the Hollywood stars got along off the set?
Robert Redford (left) as Sundance Kid and Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy in the 1969 western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. (Photo by �� John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
Newman, who played Butch when he was 44, confessed that he wanted the role that was played by the younger Redford, who at the time was 33.
In an interview with BBC’s Talking Pictures, Newman said, “We have a lot of fun together, we bounce off each other real well.” He continued, “I would have preferred to have played Sundance. I feel a little more comfortable with that cooled-out kind of quality. I suppose it’s the easier part!”..CONTINUE READING