Meryl Streep called him a lion. Marlee Matlin said he was a genius. To Ron Howard, he was a tremendously influential cultural figure.

After news broke on Tuesday of the death of Robert Redford — the Oscar-winning actor, director and producer who also nurtured the independent film movement through his Sundance Film Festival — tributes from his Hollywood friends and colleagues flooded in.

The testimonies celebrated not only Redford’s commitment as a filmmaker and an activist but also his loyalty as a friend and a mentor.

Barbra Streisand

Streisand said in a statement on Instagram that when she and Redford starred together in the 1973 film “The Way We Were,” which won two Oscars, every day on set was “exciting, intense and pure joy.”

In many ways, they were opposites, she said, but a friendship grew. “Bob was charismatic, intelligent, intense, always interesting — and one of the finest actors ever,” she said. “He was one of a kind and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.”

The last time she saw Redford, Streisand said, they chatted about art over lunch, deciding to send each other their drawings.