Yet for all his TV work, Redeker is more likely to be a trivia answer due to his Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for "The Deer Hunter" (1978), the tale of local boys who go to Vietnam with the romance of war in their eyes and find something quite different. Although four writers eventually shared credit on the script, it was Redeker, often working late in a coffee shop booth, who carved the original blueprint for the film: his version opened with the notorious Russian roulette sequence.
A constant onscreen presence since the late 50s, Redeker landed his first regular series berth as Perry Levitt, a magazine photographer who worked the Sunset Strip, on the NBC police drama "Dan Raven" (1960-61). In addition to his numerous small screen guest appearances, the actor appeared in a number of features. Redeker was a foil to Moe, Larry and Curly Joe in "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" (1962) and was one of Robert Redford's campaign staffers in "The Candidate" (1972). He later co-starred with Redford in "The Electric Horseman" (1979) and was cast in Redford's directorial debut, "Ordinary People" (1980), as Mary Tyler Moore's brother.