Robert Redford, Oscar-winning actor, director, and activist, dies at 89
Robert Redford, the legendary actor, Oscar-winning director, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival, has died at age 89. His representative confirmed that he passed away on September 16, 2025, at his home at Sundance in Utah, surrounded by loved ones.
Redford’s career spanned more than six decades, and he was celebrated both as a leading man in iconic films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Jeremiah Johnson, The Way We Were, All the President’s Men, and The Natural, as well as for his acclaimed work as a director. His directorial debut, Ordinary People, won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. He went on to direct films like A River Runs Through It and Quiz Show, the latter earning him another Oscar nomination for Best Director.
Born Charles Robert Redford Jr. on August 18, 1936, in Van Nuys, California, Redford initially attended the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship before traveling through Europe and studying art. He later enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, graduating in 1959 and quickly finding work in television. His big break came in Neil Simon’s Broadway play Barefoot in the Park, leading to more prominent film roles and cementing his star status in Hollywood.
Throughout the 1970s, Redford became one of the most bankable and respected actors in the industry, culminating in his portrayal of journalist Bob Woodward in All the President’s Men, a film that captured the national mood following Watergate. In the 1980s, Redford transitioned behind the camera, continuing to act while pursuing directing projects that earned both critical and commercial success.
In addition to his Hollywood career, Redford co-founded the Sundance Institute in 1981, transforming its namesake film festival into the premier showcase for independent filmmaking in the United States. A lifelong activist, he championed civil rights, Native American issues, and environmental causes, founding the Redford Center in 2005 to promote environmental justice through filmmaking.
Over his lifetime, Redford received numerous honors, including the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and an honorary Academy Award for his contributions to film and culture.
Redford was married twice, first to historian and activist Lola Van Wagenen, with whom he had four children, and later to artist Sibylle Szaggars, who survives him along with his children.
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