Robert Redford, Oscar-winning actor, director, dies at 89
Provo: Robert Redford, one of Hollywood’s most enduring figures whose career spanned six decades as an actor, director, activist, and champion of independent cinema, died Tuesday at the age of 89.
His publicist, Cindi Berger, confirmed that Redford passed away “at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved.” No cause of death was disclosed. Redford emerged as a major star in the 1960s and rose to prominence in the following decade with a string of acclaimed films. His credits included The Candidate, All the President’s Men, and The Way We Were. In 1980, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for Ordinary People, which also secured the Oscar for Best Picture.
Known for his striking looks — wavy blond hair and a charismatic smile — Redford sought to move beyond his matinee idol image. He chose roles that showcased his range, from investigative journalist Bob Woodward in All the President’s Men to a frontier loner in Jeremiah Johnson. He even entered the Marvel universe decades later, portraying a double agent in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Perhaps his most celebrated on-screen pairing was with Paul Newman. The two actors, close friends off-screen, became an iconic duo in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), which inspired the name of Redford’s future Sundance Institute. They reunited in The Sting (1973), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and earned Redford a Best Actor nomination.
By the 1980s, Redford shifted much of his focus to directing and producing while building the Sundance Institute and Film Festival into the world’s premier platform for independent filmmakers. “For me, the word to be underscored is ‘independence’,” he told the Associated Press in 2018. “I saw stories out there that weren’t being told, and I thought, maybe I can commit my energies to giving those people a chance.”
The festival launched the careers of Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Darren Aronofsky, among others. Although Sundance later faced criticism for attracting Hollywood buyers and celebrities, Redford maintained that its mission never wavered. “It’s always been built on diversity,” he said in 2004.
In 2025, the festival announced it would relocate from Park City, Utah, to Boulder, Colorado, beginning in 2027. Redford, who once studied at the University of Colorado Boulder, supported the change, saying, “Change is inevitable; we must always evolve and grow, which has been at the core of our survival.”
Redford’s filmography remained rich well beyond his early stardom. He starred in Out of Africa (1985), a Best Picture winner, and delivered a near-silent performance in All Is Lost (2013), hailed as one of his finest. In 2018, he appeared in The Old Man and the Gun, which he described as his farewell to acting. “I just figure that I’ve had a long career that I’m very pleased with,” he told the AP that year, adding it was time to spend more time with his family. An outspoken environmentalist, Redford advocated for the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, supported land preservation in Utah, and served on the board of the Natural Resources Defence Council. His love for the outdoors infused films such as A River Runs Through It.
Born Charles Robert Redford Jr. on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, he studied art before turning to acting. After training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he performed on Broadway and in television dramas, including The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His breakout came with Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park, which he reprised on screen alongside Jane Fonda.
Redford married twice and had four children. Two sons preceded him in death: Scott Anthony, who died in infancy in 1959, and James Redford, a filmmaker and activist who passed away in 2020. He is survived by his wife, Sibylle Szaggars, and remaining family.
From movie stardom to directing Oscar winners and founding a movement that reshaped cinema, Redford’s impact extended far beyond Hollywood. As he once reflected, “As I look back on it, I feel very good about that.”agencies
