Robert Redford - Michael Feeney Callan [38]
Lola’s background made involvement unavoidable. Both sides of her family, the Dutch Van Wagenens and the Scots-English Barkers, converted in the middle of the nineteenth century and made their way to the hub of Mormonism, in Salt Lake City. The intermarried Van Wagenens and Barkers spread throughout Utah and produced many significant bishops and fund-raisers for the Church. By the 1950s, the Van Wagenens had become one of the most respected families of the Provo ward.
In 1957, just past his twenty-first birthday, Redford was homesick as Christmas approached. Charlie had shown his son little affection of late, so Redford decided to go west to meet the Van Wagenens. Redford was welcomed in Provo warmly but warily: “There was grace, but there was resistance, and taking my past history into account, who can blame them? Frank, Lola’s father, was very generous and mannerly, so he was quickest to accept me. Phyllis, her mother, on the other hand, had a mother’s defense mechanism.”
Still, Redford loved the Christmas warmth and unity. According to Lola’s youngest brother, Wayne, “Bob immediately fit in with Dad because of his tremendous curiosity. My father was attracted to the inquiring mind. Bob was always up for new experiences, so they met in the middle.” The Mormon weekly ritual of “family home evening,” where everyone sits down formally to dinner and engages in exchange, was a balm for Redford. “I couldn’t believe this family’s enthusiasm for talk,” says Redford. “It was a novelty to me.” But the tensions remained, and the hints of marriage were stubbornly ignored.
Redford gloomily returned to New York after Christmas. His unease was made worse by continued mixed reviews. The speech teacher insisted he couldn’t speak well; the rehearsals supervisor noted his “trouble with projection.” Another instructor complained that “Redford is lowering the characters of Shakespeare to suit his own modern mannerisms.” But Edward De Roo, marking Redford’s portrayal of John Proctor in the post-Christmas The Crucible, scribbled on his sheet: “Leading man material.” Harry Mastrogeorge was inclined to agree: “I observed a continuation of serious personal issues in him, the main one of which was his hard-headed refusal to ‘do it the company way.’ But he also showed a growth of originality in his approach that made you say, Wait a minute … !” Mike Thoma and Richard Altman, two influential figures on the Broadway casting circuit, were also starting to pay attention, though Altman worried about Redford’s arrogance. “He lacked physical release,” says Altman. “I wrote in my reports that I believed this would come in time—that acting was more than important for him, it had become critical. But the trouble was, he feigned nonchalance, and that arrogant attitude, I believed, was a problem that could have finished him off as an actor.”
Redford acknowledges the importance of Altman’s insight. “Bit by bit I was beginning to feel that acting might allow me the self-expression I sought. Was it ‘critical’ at that time? Maybe not. But it is true that I was nonchalant, though that mask was slipping.”
Redford continued to cling to his fine arts interests and told Ginny he wanted to maintain his painting. She was absorbed in the creation of Americada, AADA’s first newsletter. On her invitation he became its art director, sketching actress Thelma Ritter for the inaugural issue and illustrating the following five. “I was aware he was in a rut emotionally,” says Ginny. “He’d leaped