Barefoot in the Park Barefoot in the Park Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The play premiered on Broadway in 1963, and starred Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. The play was made into a film in 1967, also starring Redford (and Jane Fonda). The play opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on October 23, 1963 and closed on June 25, 1967 after 1,530 performances. This was Neil Simon's longest-running hit, and the tenth longest-running non-musical play in Broadway history. Directed by Mike Nichols, the cast starred Elizabeth Ashley (Corie), Robert Redford (Paul), Mildred Natwick (Mrs. Banks), and Kurt
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