DENVER — Before he became a Hollywood golden boy, Robert Redford, 89, who died in his sleep at his Utah home on Tuesday, paved a deep and memorable path in Colorado.
Redford was born during the Great Depression in Santa Monica, California, but made his way to Colorado in 1955 to attend the University of Colorado Boulder.
While attending CU Boulder, Redford worked as a janitor at a local restaurant, The Sink, and is remembered fondly as the eatery’s “most famous employee.”
“He was asked to leave (CU Boulder), and he was wondering what to do and got a job here as a janitor for a few months,” The Sink owner Chris Heinritz told Denver7 in 2023.
Redford had remained a fan of the restaurant and wore a shirt from The Sink on the opening media day for the Sundance Film Festival in 1999.
Redford only attended CU for about 18 months.
But before he left the Centennial State in 1956 to travel around Europe, he took his first steps into the world that would eventually define his career, acting in multiple performances at the Historic Elitch Gardens Theater in Denver.
He would later return to Colorado to pitch an idea for a film festival, and, according to an article in the Denver Post archives, in 1974, he pitched the idea of hosting it at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Then-Gov. Dick Lamm, a CU professor, and others heard his pitch.
"I had this idea (for a festival) that had been stewing around," he told the paper back in 2000. "I thought I'd throw this feeler out and see if the university was interested. And that would be my gift to the university, even though I didn't get much out of it and they were not too impressed with me when I was there."
But CU Boulder wasn’t interested at the time, so he set up shop in Park City, Utah, founding the Sundance Film Festival, where it eventually exploded in size, becoming one of the most important festivals for indie filmmakers.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Boulder would become the official home of the Sundance Film Festival starting in January 2027.
In a statement, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis called Redford a man ahead of his time and remarked on Redford’s legacy in the Centennial State:
“Robert Redford was always ahead of his time, pushing film and arts forward, revolutionizing Hollywood, advocating for our planet, and bringing joy to many. Redford was passionately committed to film, and his career in front of the camera and behind it having left a mark on all of us. He knew that film has the power to inspire, and he not only achieved great fame as an actor, but used that power for good, supporting other artists and filmmakers, including founding the Sundance Film Festival which Colorado is proud to welcome in 2027. Robert had deep ties to Colorado, including his attendance at CU Boulder and job at The Sink. He will be missed, but his contributions will be felt for years to come and his legacy will live on.”
But those Colorado ties are not always positive.
In August 1983, Redford’s daughter, Shauna Redford, a student at CU Boulder at the time, was dealt a tragic blow when her 22-year-old boyfriend, Sidney “Sid” Wells, was found shot to death in his Boulder apartment.
Wells’ roommate, Thayne Smika, who was 24 in 1983, was the main suspect, with police believing the motive was tied to missing cocaine and money Wells accused Smika of stealing.
Smika remains a fugitive and has not been seen since 1986 when his car with stolen plates was found abandoned in Beverly Hills.
