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
Robert Redford Them Willie Boy Is Here" (1969); "Little Fauss and Big Halsy" (1970), and "The Hot Rock" (1972). But his overall career was flourishing with the critical and box office hit "Jeremiah Johnson" (1972); the political satire "The Candidate" (1972); the hugely popular period drama "The Way We Were" (1973); and the biggest hit of his career, the blockbuster crime caper "The Sting" (1973), which became one of the top 20 highest-grossing movies of all time when adjusted for inflation and for which he was also nominated for an Oscar. Between 1974 and 1976, exhibitors voted Redford Hollywood's top box-office name.