Robert Redford

At the height of his fame (1969-1976) he was one of small handful of the top matinee idols in the US, and he was famous for his beautiful red hair. so I always felt kind of sorry for the guy for having to wear a wig--it was like when Lucille Ball had to wear them because she was so known for her red hair, and it grew so thin she had to wear wigs.

Paul Newman said several times in interviews his biggest fear was that his tombstone would read, "Lost His Career When His Eyes Turned Brown," and I think redford probably felt the same way to losing his hair. Most men lose their hair as they age, and Redford unfortunately was not an exception. But at somne levekl he worried his hair was what made him a star.

Who cares, OP? It's that FACE, what a tragedy. He was so beautiful.

Leave my Hubbell alone.

R2 yeah if you like the bumps and the ruddy complexion. Redford was always completely without sex appeal to me.

He spent way too much time in the sun without sunscreen.

He has those bumps. What are they anyway? Any DL dermatologists?

Yeah, no sex appeal, that's the ticket!

Redford was wearing a wig even in the movie Barefoot In The Park?

He could at least get ones with age appropriate density and expose more of his forehead. Shatner finally came around.

He always had terrible skin even when he was young and otherwise gorgeous.

Go Datalounge Wigsnatcher General!

WERK

Was very vain in picking film roles.

A relative who used to work at Universal related to me that RR was interested in the starring role in "The Verdict", but insisted that the character not be an alcoholic. The argument continued even as they started work on the film and when RR didn't get his way, he left the film and Paul Newman took it and got another Oscar nomination. In fact, Newman said years later that he would have liked to do another film about the character, Frank Galvin, to see what had become of him.

With the possible exception of "Downhill Racer", (where RR played a real SOB), which was very early in his career, he apparently always wanted the negative edges of his character removed. (Apparently the same thing happened on "The Horse Whisperer".

When I heard that story about him wanting to change the character of Frank Galvin, I lost respect for him. Fortunately, Paul Newman was smarter than the vain Redford.

As for the hair - he is so far past the Surfer Boy Stage that he looks profoundly silly these days.

Vanity, oh vanity.

A pretty boy who couldn't act his way out of a Paris pissoir.

Just matinee good looks.

Real or Memorex?

That's a wig in R15, right?

Yikes.....

I really didn't pay attention, and didn't think her was wearing a wig, just a bad dye job. But that picture at r15 just screams and shouts [italic] WIG-WIG-WIG-WIG-WIG !

Good toupee here? Or no?

Men usually don't experience thicker hair growth after 40.

By LEGAL EAGLES (1986), I'm definitely thinking "hairpiece."

What the fuck happened!

I went to bed with Hubbell, and woke up with the Mummy!

Debra Winger wickedly referred to Redford as The Unnatural, a play on his The Natural film role.

R21 why? She didn’t like him?

R22 who does Debra like lol? Yeah I’m sure they didn’t get along. Just watched a little bit of Legal Eagles yesterday on cable. The Redford character is so smug, unlikeable and unrealistic. Debra hated the film too.

R12, that's interesting. I've always thought there's something of a void at the heart of the films he directed.

R23, If there were ever two folks destined to not get along it would be Winger and Redford. Team Winger here, by a mile. I cannot even fathom what that Legal Eagles set was like. Hannah/Redford/Winger??? What a trifecta of HELL.

I don't think his hair was a wig through at least the 80's-

How long as he been out of the public eye? The wig was probably applied somewhere in the 1995-2003 era..

How did he look in that schmaltzy Michelle Pfeiffer film with the horrible Celine Dion song?

I thought Winger & Redford had a fling around the time of Legal Eagles? Sure I read that somewhere.

No question he was a beautiful man when younger - but that vanity was always pretty evident and off-putting.

His wig and stiff face makes him look ridiculous these days.

And if he made the wig blonder, with some gray, and decreased the density, it could work.

But that thing he has now? If I see him in Central Park, I am going to SNATCH that weave, and use it as my winter coat.

I bet I could keep warm all winter long with that squirrel cover!

Buck never would have worn a rug like that.

Thank you BETH for your words of wisdom.

Im serious, I want to get him a lighter wiglet, thin it out, and glue that thing on his head.

VOILA!!!!

He goes from a freak to an older yet handsome Robert Redford.

He looks like my great aunt Harriet who never leaves home without her wig perched on her head.

"Yeah I’m sure they didn’t get along."

There weren't many people Debra Winger DID get along with. She's always been notoriously "difficult."

This is supposed to be a 1980s photo of Redford. Looks like a wig already.

Wig?

R35- I say NO.

R34- THAT looks like a wiglet/squirrel cover.

I wonder when these photos were taken??

I would say R34 is 1980-81 and R35 is 1974-76..

But the pic in R35 shows NO signs of thinning.

Did he once have a really good wiglet and just gave up and decided that he would just rip weaves off of dead bodies laying in the streets?

It’s his version of the Bette Davis Wig/Hat taklshow getup. ElderStars have their ways SET.

Was this a good hairpiece? This is a piece that looks natural. Circa 2003

It proves that the squirrel cover he has now doesn't FIT, but we CANNOT ACQUIT!!!

I wonder if he has been wearing hairhats perhaps forever? But there has never been a time where his hair appeared to be thinning. So it is quite a mystery.

I think that he had his eyes done as well

LINK

From Esquire magazine. I think Redford was wearing wigs as early as 1970s.

Yes, R39, that's a much better wig than the one in OP's post.

I’m in my 50’s and still have a thick, full head of hair - so it is possible he wasn’t wearing wigs in all those older photos - but I’ve realized since my mid 30s that I’m a pretty extreme outlier in that department.