17/09/2025
My Mom’s Robert Redford Story – 1959 ✨
When my mom, Norma Jean, was 18 or 19, she was having lunch with her sister Carlene at May Company in LA. A young guy at the next table overheard them talking about Denver and struck up a conversation — turns out he was a University of Denver student visiting LA with a friend.
They chatted about their mutual Denver connections, and he asked for her phone number. When he called a week later to ask her out, she politely declined because he’d been drinking — and my mom never liked men who drank.
That “college student” was Robert Redford, four years before he became famous. Funny enough, Redford later became teetotal. Maybe my mom’s rejection had an impact! 😊
A few years later, when my dad was working as an entertainment lawyer in LA, Mom found herself seated between Steve McQueen and Robert Redford at a Hollywood party. She never mentioned their May Company encounter — after all, there’s a big difference between chatting with a random college kid and sitting next to movie stars!
My mom, Norma Jean: the woman who turned down Robert Redford and lived to tell the tale! 🌟
