Robert Redford, Hollywood Icon and Environmental Champion, Dies at 89
Los Angeles, September 16, 2025 — The man who once played the Sundance Kid has ridden off into his own sunset. Robert Redford, the golden-haired heartthrob who evolved into an Oscar-winning director and the quiet force behind independent cinema’s rise, died early Tuesday at his home in the Utah mountains. He was 89. Surrounded by family at the Sundance property he cherished, Redford slipped away in his sleep, his publicist Cindi Berger confirmed, leaving behind a legacy as vast as the Western landscapes he loved to film. No specific cause was disclosed, but his peaceful passing feels fitting for a life that blended quiet intensity with unyielding purpose.
From California Kid to Broadway Bound: Early Hustle and Heartbreak
Born Charles Robert Redford Jr. on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, young Bob grew up in a modest home, dreaming big amid the oil rigs and orange groves of Southern California. Tragedy struck early—his mother died during childbirth when he was a teen, and later, his infant son Scott succumbed to sudden infant death syndrome in 1959. A restless spirit, Redford flunked out of the University of Colorado, dabbled in painting in Europe, and washed up in New York, where he traded brushes for the stage at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Broadway beckoned in the late ’50s, with a breakout in Arthur Miller’s “A View From the Bridge.” But it was TV gigs—episodes of “Playhouse 90,” “Route 66,” and a memorable turn as Death in “The Twilight Zone”—that honed his understated charisma. By the early ’60s, Hollywood called, and Redford answered with roles in “War Hunt” and alongside Natalie Wood in “Inside Daisy Clover.” Still, it was personal life that grounded him: He married Lola van Wagenen in 1958, welcoming daughter Shauna in 1960, son James (David) in 1962, and daughter Amy in 1970.
Silver Screen Stardom: Rogues, Reporters, and Record Breakers
Redford’s film breakthrough was pure alchemy: As the laconic Sundance Kid to Paul Newman’s Butch Cassidy in 1969’s blockbuster, he captured the dying West with a wink and a drawl, raking in $102 million and cementing a bromance for the ages. The duo reunited for 1973’s “The Sting,” a con-artist caper that snagged seven Oscars, including Best Picture, and earned Redford his first acting nod.
He shone in romances like “The Way We Were” with Barbra Streisand and “Out of Africa” opposite Meryl Streep, but it was “All the President’s Men” (1976)—as dogged reporter Bob Woodward alongside Dustin Hoffman’s Carl Bernstein—that showcased his steel. The Watergate thriller didn’t just win acclaim; it mirrored Redford’s disdain for Hollywood’s fluff, demanding films with “cultural weight.” As Variety put it, “Like Gary Cooper or Steve McQueen, Redford wasn’t about range—he was about untouchable star power.”
Behind the Camera: Oscars, Indies, and a Festival That Changed Everything
Tired of typecasting, Redford pivoted to directing with “Ordinary People” (1980), a gut-wrenching family drama starring Mary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton that swept the Oscars—Best Picture and Director for him, his lone competitive win. “With a distaste for Hollywood’s dumb-it-down approach, he typically demanded that his films carry cultural weight,” The New York Times observed.
In 1981, he launched the Sundance Institute, transforming a Utah ski resort into a mecca for mavericks. The Sundance Film Festival birthed gems like “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” and “Reservoir Dogs,” democratizing cinema and earning him the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama for his arts and environmental advocacy. Later efforts like “Quiz Show” (1994) and “The Horse Whisperer” (1998)—which he starred in—kept his vision sharp, blending intellect with heart.
The Activist’s Fire: Pipelines, Preservation, and Personal Losses
Off-screen, Redford was a force. A trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council, he battled the Keystone XL pipeline, dubbing it a “black snake” poisoning sacred lands. He championed Native voices and climate action, using Sundance to amplify urgent stories. Personal blows tested him: Divorce from Lola in 1985, son James’s death from liver cancer in 2020. He remarried artist Sibylle Szaggars in 2009, finding solace in family and the wild.
Redford acted into his 80s, reuniting with Jane Fonda for Netflix’s tender “Our Souls at Night” (2017) and bowing out with the sly “The Old Man & the Gun” (2018), though he toyed with retirement like a pro.
Echoes from the Stars: A World Mourns Its Quiet Giant
Tributes flooded in fast. Meryl Streep, his “Out of Africa” co-star, posted: “One of the lions has passed. Rest easy, Bob—you changed the game.” Jane Fonda shared a photo: “We laughed, we cried, we made magic. Love you forever.” Even President Trump tweeted: “Robert Redford was a great talent—tough on the environment, but fair. Sad day for movies.” The Guardian called him “the incandescently handsome star who changed Hollywood forever.”
Redford is survived by daughters Shauna and Amy, son James’s children, and grandchildren. His family requests privacy.
In a town of remakes, Redford was original—an everyman’s hero with a rebel’s soul. As NPR reflected, he was “a movie star to his core,” whose Sundance spark still lights indie fires worldwide. Who’ll carry that torch next? Hollywood’s a little dimmer today, but his films? They’ll shine on.