Robert Redford playfully mocked his late friend Paul Newman in this delightful resurfaced clip

Cecily Knobler
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 17:29:06 +0000
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Robert Redford was many things to many people: husband, father, heartthrob, Oscar-winning actor, trailblazer. But to fellow actor Paul Newman, he was both co-star and dear friend.

When Newman passed away in 2008, Redford wrote a touching tribute to him for Time Magazine.

"I first met Paul Newman in 1968, when George Roy Hill, the director of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, introduced us in New York City," Redford wrote. "When the studio didn’t want me for the film–it wanted somebody as well known as Paul–he stood up for me. I don’t know how many people would have done that; they would have listened to their agents or the studio powers."

A scene from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." www.youtube.com, Movie Clips

One of their most powerful connections was laughter. "Whenever he’d make a mistake on set, he would enjoy it more than anybody," Redford wrote. "I’d look at him, and he’d look at me, and I’d say, 'You’re not fooling anybody. You’re not staring at me intensely; you’ve lost your line.' And he’d roar with laughter."

Redford shared their heartfelt pranks: "We played lots of pranks on each other. I used to race cars, and after he took this rare Porsche I owned for a drive, he began to get into racing. He had incredible reflexes, and he got really good, but he talked so much about it that I got sick of it. So I had a beaten-up Porsche shell delivered to his porch for his 50th birthday. He never said anything, but not long after, I found a crate of molten metal delivered to the living room of my (rented) house. It dented the floor. I then had it turned into a really ugly sculpture and dropped it into his garden. To this day, neither one of us has ever mentioned it."

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So it wasn't surprising that even after Newman died, Redford would lovingly tease him. In a now resurfaced clip from the Pete's Dragon press junket in 2016, film critic Kevin McCarthy compliments Redford on his performance in Captain America: Winter Soldier. He says, "There's a moment in that movie where you walk up to your fridge and you open it up - and in your fridge is Newman's Own spaghetti sauce." Redford gives his trademark sly smile.

"Have you ever gone out and purchased Newman's Own, like salad dressing?" McCarthy asks. Again Redford smiles and jokes, "No. Are you kidding? No, I like good food." His face continues to brighten on the topic.

Redford adds, "Ready for a funny story? My wife and I were in a restaurant in Napa Valley and there was a table next to us of about seven people. And they kept looking over and commenting. And I thought, 'We're not gonna be left alone, they're gonna come over and bug me' and so forth. And sure enough, this guy comes up from the table and says 'I'm sorry, I hate to interrupt. We're all here and we are such fans. I just wanted to tell you how much we love your work.' And I said 'Well thank you.' And he said, 'And we love your salad dressing.'"

1973 "The Sting" movie poster. commons.wikimedia.org

McCarthy laughs, then confirms, "They thought you were Paul Newman? Did you correct him or did you let it go?" Redford dryly, without missing a beat, says, "No. I was so stunned, I just stared into space for a while. But it was a great moment."

Commenters point out how special their friendship was. "I love how he’s teasing his friend even beyond the grave," one wrote. "I like to imagine that in that moment he knew Paul heard that comment and smiled."

McCarthy goes on to talk about the magic of Pete's Dragon and how it changed Redford's character's worldview. He asked, "Do you have something like that in your own life? Something that magical that happened that essentially changed the way you saw life?"

Redford answers quickly. "I did." He describes being taken to the library as a child and says of the children's books he read, "All the stories in the children's section were about a life bigger than the one you were living in. And I got really taken with that. And the idea of fantasy. The idea of seeing a world larger than your own is where the magic was."

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Tributes to Redford are flooding in after news of his death. Director Ron Howard took to X to write, "RIP and thank you Robert Redford, a tremendously influential cultural figure for the creative choices made as an actor/producer/director. And for launching the Sundance Film Festival, which supercharged America's Independent Film movement. Artistic game changer."

Governor Spencer Cox of Utah, where Redford spent many cherished years until his passing, wrote on X, "Decades ago, Robert Redford came to Utah and fell in love with the place. He cherished our landscapes and built a legacy that made Utah a home for storytelling and creativity. Through Sundance and his devotion to conservation, he shared Utah with the world."