On September 16, actor, filmmaker, and activist Robert Redford died at the age of 89. Known for his roles in films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, All the President’s Men, The Great Gatsby, and The Natural, to name just a few, the Hollywood icon passed in his sleep, leaving behind a legacy that reshaped not only cinema but culture itself.

Before he graced silver screens and began guiding budding filmmakers, Redford was once a young, struggling actor himself, appearing in bit parts on a vast assortment of classic shows throughout the ’50s and the ’60s. One of the screen legend’s first roles was a bit part on Maverick, followed by a variety of small roles in Golden Era TV shows such as Playhouse 90, Perry Mason, Route 66, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But few are as bittersweet or as haunting as his portrayal of Officer Harold Beldon on the Twilight Zone in the episode “Nothing in the Dark” from 1962.