With Robert Redford’s birthday in August and his death in September, the screen legend’s timeless filmography is back in the spotlight. But there’s one film in particular that really stands out, as it connected two very different kinds of stars.
The Electric Horseman, director Sydney Pollack’s 1979 western dramedy, marked Redford’s return to acting after a three-year absence from leading roles following All the President’s Men. It also became a certain music superstar’s motion-picture debut, and in the process, helped deliver that musician his fifth No. 1 hit.
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Making his big-screen debut as Wendell Hickson, Willie Nelson played a veteran rodeo rider and supportive sidekick to Redford’s Sonny Steele. In doing so, the country icon and outlaw movement pioneer launched a parallel acting career that would eventually span dozens of films and television appearances.
The story of how one of country music’s most recognizable faces made it to the big screen could be a movie in itself. Nelson found himself sitting next to Redford on a plane, with the chance encounter leading to a conversation about the movie Redford was working on.
In his 2015 memoir, It’s a Long Story: My Life, Nelson got into the nitty-gritty of his and Redford’s chat. He shared that it all began with Redford asking, “Ever thought about doing a movie, Willie?”
After Nelson responded, “Sure, but let me ask you this, Bob: Is acting anything like having a conversation?” Redford told him, “You’re a natural, Willie. As a singer and musician, you’re naturally relaxed. As an actor, I think that same quality would come through.” Their chat ended with Nelson inspired enough to contact Pollack and ask for a part.
“The reading was easy. The part was easy. I played myself,” he shared. “In fact, in every movie to follow, I played myself. Or as that great sidekick cowboy Slim Pickens would soon say, ‘No one plays Willie Nelson better than Willie Nelson.’”
In the film, Sonny, a former rodeo champ who now makes a living as an illuminated cowboy mascot for a cereal company in Las Vegas, learns that his spokes-horse, Rising Star, is being mistreated by corporate bigwigs. Disillusioned, Sonny steals the racehorse and rides off into the desert, leaving Wendell to answer for his friend’s actions to a persistent television reporter named Hallie, played by Jane Fonda, looking for a story.
According to the American Film Institute, Wendell’s role was originally just three lines. But Pollack expanded it into a supporting role after seeing how comfortable Nelson was in front of the camera, improvising much of his dialogue and stealing scenes with his Southern charm.
The film became a box-office smash after its December 1979 premiere. It was even nominated for an Oscar the following year for Best Sound. Though not a mainstream hit, the film’s soundtrack saw similar success over in the country world, thanks, of course, to Nelson’s contributions.
The Electric Horseman (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) reached No. 3 on the Top Country Albums chart, but its standout hit, “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys,” went even higher.
Written by Sharon Vaughn, the song was first recorded by Waylon Jennings in 1976 for the album Wanted! The Outlaws. The song didn’t become a massive hit, though, until Nelson sang it for The Electric Horseman.
Released as a single in 1980, the bittersweet country ballad reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country chart in March 1980, becoming Nelson’s fifth chart-topper, behind “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” “Good Hearted Woman,” “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” and “On the Road Again.” The latter also earned Nelson an Oscar nomination for its role in Honeysuckle Rose.
Nelson followed up The Electric Horseman with roles in the aforementioned Honeysuckle Rose, Barbarosa, Songwriter, Red Headed Stranger, and so many more. And, yes, Nelson’s legacy on the screen is entirely his own, but part of that second career traces back to Redford, who saw something in the country star before Hollywood did.
Related: 1985 Pop-Rock Hit, Which Closes a Kilmer Cult Classic, Became One of the Greatest ’80s Movie Songs
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