As Hollywood prepares to lay one of its greatest stars, Robert Redford, to rest, Jane Fonda is kicking herself that she didn’t make the effort to say a final goodbye to her friend and frequent collaborator.
Shortly after Robert’s death was announced on September 16, a grieving Jane, 87, issued a statement in which she admitted that she hadn’t stopped crying since she learnt of his passing.
It came just months after the pair tried to organise a catch-up that never came to fruition.
“He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way,” she said.
“He stood for an America we have to keep fighting for.”
In a second statement posted on Instagram, Jane added that ‘Bob’, as he was known, “made a real difference in all good ways”.
“I am very sad today,” she penned.
“But luckily, I can think back on so many joyful, laughter-filled moments when his practical jokes would crack me up. I was wanting to go see him these last few months to make sure we were all right between us, but I didn’t act on it soon enough. Lesson learned. When people are our age, late 80s, don’t wait.”
Robert passed away aged 89 in his sleep at his home in Provo, Utah – the very state where he established his game-changing Sundance Film Festival in 1978.
Jane and Robert made four movies together, the first being 1966’s The Chase. The next year they reunited for Barefoot in the Park, with Jane admitting that she “fell madly in love” with Robert on that set.
However, nothing ever happened as they were both married. Their final screen collaboration was 2017’s Our Souls at Night.
In a 2017 interview, Robert recalled he and Jane bonded immediately, with their friendship being one that just “clicks” whenever they reunited.
“Whatever her life was – which was all over the place – whatever my life was, when we came together, those things were forgotten. We were just she and I working together,” he told Esquire.
Along with Jane, Robert romanced many A-list actresses on screen, from Barbra Streisand and Natalie Wood to Meryl Streep and Mia Farrow.
Barbra shared her own Instagram tribute and recalled details of her final catch-up with Robert.
“He came to lunch, we discussed art and decided to send each other our first drawings,” she wrote.
“He was one of a kind and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.”
