Robert Redford to tell Jackie Robinson story

Film will follow the early life of the man who broke baseball's colour barrier in 1947 when he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Mar 29 2005

Robert Redford is to produce and star in a biopic of sporting legend Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play major-league baseball.

Redford will star as Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, having secured the blessing of both Robinson's widow and Rickey's son to bring the story to the big screen.

The film will follow Robinson from his days as an all-round sports star at UCLA, to his time as a US Army Lieutenant in World War II and conclude when he took the field as a Dodger for the first time in 1947.

As Redford explains: 'It's a simple story, and one that most don't know about – how the colour barrier was broken and changed the face of baseball and ultimately the country.'

Kirk Ellis, who won an Emmy for his work on the teleplay 'Ann Frank: The Whole Story', is currently working on the script, although there's no word as yet regarding who will play Robinson.

Before then Redford will be seen in the Lasse Hallström drama 'An Unfinished Life', in which he stars opposite Jennifer Lopez.