What was Robert Redford's connection to Boulder?

Redford’s own Boulder years were short. His family came back to Boulder a generation later, and that is when I knew him.

When Jamie was at CU

In the ’80s, when his son Jamie was at the University of Colorado, Robert Redford found me. I worked with his staff to lease one of my rental properties to him so his son would have a place to live. Jamie lived in the house.

The rent came every month as a personal check from Robert Redford. My wife never wanted to cash them, because they had his signature on them. I thought that was cute. We did cash them eventually. She held on to them for a while first.

Rides from Stapleton

He came to Boulder about once a month to visit his son. Because of our relationship, he would call and ask if he could get a ride from the airport, which was Stapleton in those days.

I had a bevy of women agents in my office, and they would fight for the chance to pick him up. They rotated every month. Robert always wanted a six pack of Coors the moment he landed.

The corner room at the Boulderado

They drove him to the Hotel Boulderado, which I had an interest in at the time. He rented the same room in the corner every visit.

He wouldn’t go out until night. He wore a trench coat and a hat, just like you would see in the movies, and nobody recognized him. You could go to dinner somewhere with him. He was a wonderful, nice guy, and his staff and his personal assistant were very comfortable to work with.

He was at a real high point in his career then. I think he was making Out of Africa around those years. It was always fun to know it was him. It is a tremendous memory, and I have always been a huge fan of his.

CU and The Sink

Redford enrolled at CU on a baseball scholarship in 1954 and dropped out the next year. He swept floors at The Sink, the restaurant on the Hill that has fed CU students since 1923, and The Sink has told that story ever since. The University awarded him an honorary degree in 1987.

Sundance comes home

When the Sundance Institute chose Boulder for the festival, Redford said he was grateful to the Boulder community for its support and looked forward to seeing what the future held for the festival here. He died in Utah in September 2025, sixteen months before the first Boulder festival.