Robert Redford about his blond male stereotype image and turned down roles in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "The Graduate". Redford found the niche he was looking for in George Roy Hill's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), scripted by William Goldman, in which he was paired for the first time with Paul Newman. The film was a huge success and made him a major bankable star, cementing his screen image as an intelligent, reliable, sometimes sardonic good guy. Redford suffered through a few films that did not achieve box office success during this time, including "Downhill Racer" (1969); "Tell
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head and cassette versions also climbing the charts. Ray Stevens was first offered the opportunity to record it for the film, but turned it down. He chose instead to record the song "Sunday Morning Coming Down", written by Kris Kristofferson. Bob Dylan is supposed to have been approached for the song, but he, too, reportedly declined. The trumpet solos in the song are performed by Chuck Findley. In 2004, it finished at number 23 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In 2008, the single was ranked 85th on "Billboard"'s Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and