Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (born 1900) was an American inmate who killed his wife, her neighbor and the neighbor's infant son after cutting his wife's brakes to claim the insurance payout. This resulted in a life sentence for murder to be carried out in Shawshank State Prison.
There, Red became a prison smuggler, getting almost anything small for a price, which earned him great respect in the prison hierarchy. After Andy Dufresne arrived at Shawshank, Red became good friends with the framed man, with Dufresne urging Red to seek hope despite all that he has witnessed. He learned from Dufresne all the laundering schemes that Warden Samuel Norton had put him up to, with Red assisting Dufresne in any way he could.
After Dufresne told Red about his dream of going to Zihuatanejo, Mexico to start a hotel there, he informed Red of a box he buried under a volcanic rock at an oak tree in Buxton, Maine. In the days afterward, Dufresne successfully escaped from Shawshank and caused Captain Byron Hadley's arrest and Norton's suicide. Red would eventually be paroled after serving forty years, but is unable to adjust to life outside. As such, he finds Dufresne's box and heads to Zihuatanejo and lived peacefully with Dufresne for the rest of his days, finally finding hope.