The “In Memoriam” segment at the 98th Oscars featured emotional tributes to Diane Keaton, Rob and Michele Reiner and Robert Redford.
Billy Crystal paid tribute to the Reiners, while Rachel McAdams honored late stars including “fellow Canadian” Catherine O’Hara and “Family Stone” co-star Diane Keaton.
Barbra Streisand, who worked with Redford on “The Way We Were,” remembered her longtime friend and co-star’s “backbone on and off the screen.”
“After I read the first script of ‘The Way We Were,’ I could only imagine one man in the role and that was Robert Redford,” Streisand said.
She added that Redford had originally turned down the role because he felt the character lacked conviction.
“He said the character had no backbone. He doesn’t stand for anything, and he was right. So many drafts later, Bob finally agreed to do it. He was a brilliant, subtle actor and we had a wonderful time playing off each other because we never quite knew what the other one was going to do in a scene.”
Streisand also highlighted Redford’s commitment to defending freedom of the press, protecting the environment and welcoming new voices through the Sundance Institute.
“I called him an intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail,” she said.
Streisand closed her tribute with a performance of “The Way We Were,” the theme song for the pair’s 1973 romantic drama.
Redford died in September at the age of 89.