Robert Redford played the Sundance Kid in the 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
Redford portrayed Harry Longabaugh, the historical outlaw known as the Sundance Kid, opposite Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy. The film was directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman, whose screenplay presented the pair as witty, charismatic antiheroes rather than strictly realistic criminals.
The story is loosely based on the real Hole-in-the-Wall Gang and follows Cassidy, Sundance, and Etta Place as they flee from relentless lawmen and eventually escape to Bolivia. The movie became one of the defining Westerns of the late 1960s and helped establish Redford as a major star.
A common mix-up is Paul Newman, who played Butch Cassidy, not Sundance. Steve McQueen was considered for the role, but Redford ultimately took it. Redford later gave the Sundance name to the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival.