Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning actor and director who founded the Sundance Film Festival, died Sept. 16, 2025, at age 89. He is survived by his wife, Sibylle Szaggars, two daughters from his first marriage, and seven grandchildren.
Redford and Szaggars, who were married for 16 years, met in the late 1990s at Redford’s Sundance Mountain Resort. Szaggars, a German environmentalist and multimedia artist, became a private but public-facing partner in Redford’s later work on environmental causes and arts education. The couple married in July 2009 in a small ceremony in Szaggars’s native Hamburg and kept their personal life largely out of the spotlight.
Szaggars, 68, founded the nonprofit The Way of the Rain in 2015; Redford served as vice president. The organization, described as developing artistic and educational performances to promote environmental awareness, reflected a long-standing shared interest. The couple was honored for their environmental work at events including the Ryerson Woods’ Smith Nature Symposium & Benefit in 2018 and at a Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation ceremony in 2021.
Redford first spoke publicly about Szaggars in a 2011 interview with AARP, calling her "a very special person" and noting the fresh dynamic he found in their relationship. Szaggars has described their early meeting as informal: she recalled panicking before a dinner Redford invited her to, worried she did not know his films, and quickly renting snippets to prepare. Redford later said he appreciated that their courtship began without the usual trappings of fame.
The couple did not have children together. Szaggars became stepmother to Redford’s children from his first marriage to Lola Van Wagenen, which lasted from 1958 until their divorce in 1985. The couple had four children, though two predeceased Redford.
Redford and Van Wagenen’s first child, Scott Anthony Redford, was born in September 1959 and died of sudden infant death syndrome before his third month. Their second child, Shauna, was born in November 1960 and has maintained a generally private life while remaining involved with family initiatives. Their third child, David James "Jamie" Redford, was born in May 1962; he worked in film and television and directed, and he died of bile-duct cancer in October 2020 at age 58. Their fourth child, Amy Hart Redford, was born in October 1970 and pursued a career in theater and film, later working as a director and producer.
Redford often cited fatherhood as among his greatest personal achievements. In interviews he described the rewards and challenges of parenting and, in later years, spoke about involving his children in the operations of the Sundance Institute, the nonprofit he founded in 1981 to support independent filmmakers.
Beyond family, Redford’s public life spanned decades as an actor, director and environmental advocate. His partnership with Szaggars intertwined his cinematic legacy with renewed emphasis on conservation and arts education. The Way of the Rain and other philanthropic efforts underscored a late-career focus on combining artistic practice with environmental stewardship.
Survivors include Szaggars and Redford’s two living children, Shauna and Amy, and seven grandchildren. Colleagues, friends and organizations that worked with Redford and Szaggars are expected to acknowledge both his contributions to film and his environmental advocacy in the days ahead.