Iconic Hollywood actor Robert Redford has died. He was 89 years old.
Robert Redford has died at 89 years old.
— Variety (@Variety) September 16, 2025
The film icon starred in classic movies such as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "All the President's Men," won an Oscar for directing “Ordinary People” and founded the Sundance Film Institute.https://t.co/MLJnHZHcWg pic.twitter.com/bAZBLVKj1W
Here’s more from Variety:
Robert Redford, the leading man with the golden-boy looks who won an Oscar for directing “Ordinary People” and later became a godfather for independent film as founder of the Sundance Film Institute, has died. He was 89.
Cindi Berger, chief executive of the publicity firm Rogers & Cowan PMK, confirmed the news to Variety.
“Robert Redford passed away on September 16, 2025, at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,” Berger said in a statement. “He will be missed greatly. The family requests privacy.”
Redford was born in Santa Monica, California to parents Charles and Martha Redford. He had a half-brother, William.
He grew up in Van Nuys, but traveled frequently to Texas to visit his grandfather, and he would later credit his love of nature and environmentalism to the time he spent in Texas.
During high school school, Redford showed a love of and aptitude for art, and after graduating Van Nuys High School in 1954, he attended the University of Colorado at Boulder. He was at the school a year and a half before being kicked out due to excessive drinking.
Redford traveled Europe after leaving college, and eventually landed in New York City where he studied painting at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute before taking classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Redford’s career started with small roles on Broadway including “Tall Story” (1959) and “Sunday In New York” (1961). His big break came when he was cast in Neil Simon’s “Barefoot In the Park” in 1963.
Redford reprised his “Tall Story” role for the big screen, making his film debut in 1960. Several film and television roles followed and Redford was nominated for an Emmy in 1962 for his work in “The Voice of Charlie Pont”.
From 1967 to 1979, Redford’s career skyrocketed. He paired with Jane Fonda for a 1967 film adaptation of “Barefoot In the Park,” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969). Fearing being typecast, Redford turned down roles in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff?” and “The Graduate.”
Starting in the early 1970s, Redford had a string of box office hits including “Jeremiah Johnson” (1972), “The Way We Were” (1973), and “The Sting” (1973). It was the latter film that earned Redford his only acting Oscar nomination.
Redford moved into directing, starting with “Ordinary People” in 1980. The film won four Academy Awards, including Redford for Best Director.
With money from his successful films, Redford bought a ski resort northeast of Provo, Utah and renamed the area Sundance. He went on to create the Sundance Film Festival, the nation’s largest independent film festival.
Redford married Lola Van Wagenen in 1958. The pair had four children: Scott (who died as an infant), Shauna, David, and Amy. Wagenen and Redford quietly divorced some years later. Redford remarried in 2009, to Sibylle Szaggars, his longtime girlfriend.
Redford is survived by Szaggars as well as his daughters.
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