Robert Redford, the actor-director whose filmmaking and advocacy helped shape modern American cinema, died Tuesday morning at his home in Utah. He was 89.
The death was confirmed by publicist Cindi Berger, who told The New York Times that Redford died in his sleep; no cause of death was disclosed. A family statement issued to the BBC said he passed away "at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved," and the family requested privacy.
Redford rose to international stardom in the late 1960s and 1970s, combining leading-man charisma with a steady interest in complex characters and socially engaged stories. His high-profile acting roles included the charming outlaw in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), the grifter opposite Paul Newman in The Sting (1973), Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in All the President’s Men (1976), and the brooding athlete in The Natural (1984). He also starred in The Way We Were, Barefoot in the Park, Out of Africa and Indecent Proposal, among many others.
A recipient of numerous industry honors, Redford won the Academy Award for Best Director for Ordinary People (1980) and received an honorary Academy Award in 2002. His career earned him five Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, Kennedy Center Honors and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
He moved behind the camera with notable directing credits that included Ordinary People, A River Runs Through It (1992), Quiz Show (1994) and The Horse Whisperer (1998). Quiz Show earned multiple Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, and established Redford as a filmmaker able to handle moral complexity and historical themes.
Off screen, Redford was a driving force in the independent film movement. He founded the Sundance Institute and was the public face of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, using the platform to showcase emerging filmmakers and nonfiction work that often tackled social and environmental issues. Over decades the festival became a major springboard for directors and a prominent forum for documentary storytelling.
Born Charles Robert Redford Jr. on Aug. 18, 1936, he grew up in Southern California and initially pursued visual art before turning to acting. He began on Broadway, with early roles that included Tall Story and the Neil Simon comedy Barefoot in the Park, and transitioned to film in the 1960s. Redford told interviewers in later years that his early interest in painting and storytelling influenced his approach to performance and filmmaking.
Redford announced his retirement from acting in 2018, saying at the time that he felt it was the right moment to stop. His final on-screen performance was in The Old Man & the Gun (2018). He continued to be involved in film and civic efforts, lending his voice to select projects and remaining active in environmental causes.
He was an outspoken environmental advocate who served as a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council and co-founded the Redford Center with his son James to support impact-driven film and media addressing environmental and climate issues. Redford said he had a personal wake-up moment after hearing scientists describe global warming and later praised efforts to bring public attention to ecological threats.
Redford’s private life included two marriages. He married Lola Van Wagenen in 1958; the couple divorced in 1985 and had four children, two of whom — an infant son, Scott, and later son James — predeceased him. James died in 2020 after a battle with liver cancer. Redford married artist Sibylle Szaggars in 2009. He is survived by Szaggars, two daughters, Shauna and Amy, and seven grandchildren.
Colleagues, filmmakers and actors who rose at Sundance credited Redford with creating a rare institutional home for independent cinema in the United States. In interviews he described the festival as a commitment to artistic diversity and a counterweight to commercialization, even as the event grew into an international industry fixture.
His work left a broad footprint across genres — from westerns and romantic dramas to political and historical films — and his advocacy helped establish a pipeline for new talent that continues to shape contemporary cinema. Tributes and remembrances from the film community and public figures are expected in the hours ahead as studios, festivals and colleagues reflect on a career that spanned more than six decades.
Redford’s family requested privacy as arrangements are made.