Robert Redford, Hollywood Icon and Sundance Founder, Died in His Sleep at 89
Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning star of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men, died in his sleep at his Utah home outside Provo on Tuesday, The New York Times reported. The announcement was made by Cindi Berger of Rogers & Cowan PMK. Redford’s life bridged blockbuster fame and a quiet mission to nurture new filmmakers through the Sundance Institute, shaping a generation of independent cinema and environmental advocacy.
In This Article:
From Broadway Breakthrough to Blockbuster Stardom
Redford’s big break came in 1963 when he starred on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park, a role he would later reprise. He became one of Hollywood’s leading men, starring opposite Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were (1973) and with Jane Fonda on Barefoot in the Park (1967). His film résumé also includes Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Chase, Three Days of the Condor, and All the President’s Men.
An Oscar-Winning Director and a Reluctant Festival Prophet
Redford moved into directing and earned the Best Director Oscar for Ordinary People in 1981. He founded the Sundance Institute in 1981 and, four years later, transformed a struggling festival into the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The festival became a home for independent voices—Quentin Tarantino, Ava DuVernay, James Wan, and Darren Aronofsky—and a platform for documentaries on climate change and reproductive rights. He also spoke out against commercialization, famously telling a 2012 reporter that he wanted the ambush marketers and gift-bag crowd to disappear.
Legacy, Nature and a Medal for Service
Redford moved to Utah in 1961, saying, “I discovered how important nature was in my life, and I wanted to be where nature was extreme and could endure.” He was married to Lola Van Wagenen from 1958 to 1985, with four children: James, Scott Anthony, Amy, and Shauna. James died in 2020 from bile duct cancer, and Scott died in infancy from SIDS. In 2009 he married German artist Sibylle Szaggars. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Redford the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.
A Call to Action for Filmmakers: Story, Care, and Change
In a 2024 Orion Magazine interview, Redford offered guidance for young filmmakers who want to move audiences to care about something bigger than themselves. “Well, good ones. No seriously, it has to be a good story to be a good film. That comes first,” he said. He stressed that environmental storytelling should inspire action: “the stories need to be encouraging so that people feel motivated to care or do something about it.” He warned that many people feel powerless, but urged filmmakers to show how people are solving real problems and to “get involved.” He added, “Stop long enough to have something sink in with you, so you feel connected to it.” His legacy lives on in Sundance, the films he nurtured, and a belief that culture can spark change.
