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Robert Redford - Michael Feeney Callan [247]

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were in town. In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, John J. Slonaker, chief of the Historical Reference Branch at the Department of the Army, was very helpful. Orla McEvoy, Lia O’Sullivan, Emer Ghee, Shirely Connell, Jeni McConnell, Paul Melrose, Colette Colfer, Catherine Barry and Fiona O’Dwyer collated library research and made sense of a mountain of often contradictory files, spanning centuries. In Utah, I relied on the trojans of Sundance, often Jean Bair Davis. Also at Sundance, Michelle Satter, Mike Washburn, Nicole Guillemet, Geoff Gilmore and Joyce Deep were greatly supportive. I owe a special thanks to Julie Mack for her determination to explain the workings of Utah life and politics, and for making me feel welcome.

The Los Angeles participants were crucial. Marcella Scott Krisel, a close friend of Martha and Charlie Redford’s from the Santa Monica days, was the first person to introduce me to the Redfords’ old neighborhood. Carol Eve Rossen was a sound navigator over transatlantic midnight phone calls. I am also indebted to Bill and Lucrecia Coomber, Pat Ader, Lala Brady, George Menard, Vivian Christensen, Margaret Mitchell Clayton, Nina Gallagher, Steve Bernhardt, Jan and Bob and Tom Holman Peterson, Bill Chertok, Jim Collis, Kit Andrews, Sheila Andrews, Joanne Ward, Betty Webb, Tissie Keissig, Terry Drinkwater, Dave Ryan, Dave Stein, Don Leonard, Robert Nairin, Bill Van Atta, Alan Jackson, Andy Dowdy and Cal Vincent. Bob Brigham, Dick Guttman, Jack and Frances Stovall, Lionel Krisel and Bob Enrietto of the Hawaii Film Commission were also supportive. Shirley Story Ackroyd opened the doors for us in Van Nuys. Thereafter, at Van Nuys High School, I must thank Diane Sharrer. Judy Anderson at Laser Disc Association supplied me with transcripts of Paul Newman’s commentaries on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which were useful. At Wildwood Enterprises in Los Angeles, the patient and fastidious Donna Kail kept it all moving in Los Angeles, and Sarah Mendleson and—especially—Connie Wethington kept me smiling.

In New York, Meg McSweeney of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts went beyond the call of duty as archivist and prompter, and I’m thankful for our friendship. The former president of the academy, George Cuttingham, also assisted in analyzing the academy’s history and Redford’s tenure. At the Shubert Archive, Mark E. Schwartz supplied many documents. Martha Wilson, Garson Kanin’s assistant, was also hugely supportive. Also in New York I was helped by the late Harryetta Peterka, Kevin Scott and Dale Zaklad at the Museum of Radio and Television (now the Paley Center for Media), and the great theatrical sleuth, Jay Stein. At Architectural Digest, Josie Haskin kindly supplied copies of the 1975 layout of the Redfords’ Fifth Avenue home. At the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, the academic advisement director, Beverly Warmath, was a terrific help. Donaldson Brown and Carla Cogan of Wildwood’s New York office were kind and efficient at every turn. I wish to make a special note of Ginny Burns Kelly. The time I spent with her in New York and the stories she shared were inspirational.

In London, this marathon work was nurtured at various stages by Helen Gummer, Allegra Houston, Ian Chapman and Ian Macmillan. It was Jeremy Trevathan who saw the need for an American center of operations and introduced Knopf into the equation.

In all, I met, interviewed and corresponded with more than three hundred players in Robert Redford’s world. They gave me courtesy, debate, hospitality, memorabilia and time. Among them, I express special appreciation to Sydney Pollack (who took time out from shooting a movie at Paramount to open his script files and assist me), George Roy Hill (who provided a day of unforgettable reminiscences in his New York home), Michael Ritchie, Barbra Streisand, Alan J. Pakula (“the shrink”), Jane Fonda (thank you, Jan), Arthur Penn, Bob Woodward, Stuart Rosenberg, Hume Cronyn, Paul Newman (special thanks to Dorese, in Paul Newman’s office), Paul Burke, Tom Skerritt, Mike Connors, Patrick Markey, John Saxon, Sondra Lee,

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