Finding the Sundance Kid
As a result of these disagreements, the names in the title were reversed to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which has a better ring to it. Goldman claimed that he always had Paul Newman in mind for the role of Butch Cassidy. But he needed someone for the Sundance Kid after Jack Lemmon and McQueen both turned the role down.
Robert Redford. Photo by 20th Century Fox / Campanile Productions / Newman-Foreman Company / Kobal / Shutterstock
Warren Beatty and Marlon Brando were also options, but they also refused. In the end, it was actually Newman’s wife, Joanne Woodward, who suggested the studio try the up-and-coming stage actor Robert Redford. At the time, Redford had only done a few films. Newman, Woodward, and director George Roy Hill begged the studio to cast Redford.