Actor and director Robert Redford has confirmed that “The Old Man and the Gun” will be his final acting appearance. The 81 year old actor began his career in 1960 with a series of appearances in a string of TV shows and a small role in the basketball drama “Tall Story.” His career grew steadily, but it was his appearance in the 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” that was his big break as an actor. Despite his long career, however, he only earned one Oscar nomination for acting. It was for his role in the 1973 film “The Sting.” “The Sting” also remains Redford’s biggest box-office success.

In addition to his acting, Redford developed a parallel career as a director in which he found similar success. He took home the Oscar for best director in 1980 for his work on “Ordinary People” and was nominated in 1994 for best director for his work with “Quiz Show.”

As well as working as both an actor and a director, Redford was one of the founders of what would become the Sundance Film Festival. He remains the president of the allied Sundance Institute but is planning to step back from acting.

“Never say never, but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting,” said Redford. “[I’ll] move towards retirement after this because I’ve been doing it since I was 21. I thought, ‘Well, that’s enough.’ And why not go out with something that’s very upbeat and positive?” He is undecided if he will continue to work as a director in the future. “We’ll see about that,” he said.

Fans are certainly sad to see this screen legend go, but Redford is pleased with the final character he will portray. “To me, [Forrest Tucker, Redford’s character in “The Old Man and the Gun,”] was a wonderful  character to play at this point in my life,” Redford said. He also noted that the “framework” and the story in “The Old Man and the Gun” were fitting for his final performance. “The Old Man and the Gun” involves, as many crime stories do, the criminal taking one last job. A fitting theme to see off this famous actor who himself is enjoying one last gig.