Robert Redford filmed a movie at Nassau County Jail

Though Robert Redford spent many of his years working in Hollywood and living in Utah, he also made his presence known on Long Island, where he went behind bars to film scenes for a big-screen caper comedy. And in case you forgot, he also played the most famous Long Islander in literature.

The actor, who died Tuesday at the age of 89, worked on location at the Nassau County Jail in East Meadow for the opening scenes and a later prison escape in the 1972 movie "The Hot Rock," in which he played an ex-con who teams up with Great Neck native George Segal to steal a diamond from the Brooklyn Museum. Director Peter Yates visited numerous prisons around the country and settled on Nassau for its modern look. The jail opened in 1899, but underwent a series of renovations and upgrades starting in the early 1970s and has since been renamed the Nassau County Correctional Center.

Filming took three weeks and no inmates or prison officials appeared in the film, though all were alerted beforehand, according to a Newsday article from May 28, 1971. The breakout, which was filmed at night both inside the jail and on its baseball field, caught the eyes of nearby residents who were able to see the action. Also on site were reporters, including students covering the scene for East Meadow High School, Nassau Community College and C.W. Post.

The article also stated that local officials had posted ads several days earlier alerting locals about the filming so they would not think it was a real prison break.

Movie audiences also got to see external shots of the jail on Carman Avenue featuring Redford and Segal. In another scene, the actors were seen driving past the former Modell's shopping center on Hempstead Turnpike.

Redford also played the title role in the 1974 screen adaptation of "The Great Gatsby," set on Long Island's North Shore in the fictional towns of East Egg and West Egg. Ironically, many of the scenes for this third film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's story of mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his love for the married Daisy Buchanan were shot in Rhode Island, which stood in for Long Island. The book is celebrating its centennial this year.

One of Redford's last notable roles was playing CBS newsman Dan Rather in the 2015 film "Truth," which had the distinction of opening the Hamptons International Film Festival that year. The screening was followed by Alec Baldwin's interview with Rather, who said, "To say the least, I was pleased when they chose Robert Redford to play the role." 

Redford did not attend the festival.