Robert Redford, Oscar Winner and Sundance Creator, Dead at 89

Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning actor, director, environmental activist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival, has died at the age of 89.

According to The New York Times, Redford passed away in his sleep on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at his home near Provo, Utah. No cause of death was given.

One of Hollywood’s most enduring icons, Redford rose to fame with films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Sting (1973), All the President’s Men (1976), and Out of Africa (1985). He later moved behind the camera, winning the Academy Award for Best Director with Ordinary People (1980) and earning further acclaim for Quiz Show (1994).

Born on Aug. 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, Redford began his career on Broadway before breaking into television and film in the early 1960s. His role as the Sundance Kid, alongside Paul Newman, catapulted him to international stardom. Over the decades, he balanced acting and directing while also becoming a prominent advocate for independent cinema through the Sundance Institute and Festival, founded in 1984.

Beyond film, Redford was a committed environmentalist. With his late son James, he co-founded The Redford Center in 2005 to support filmmakers tackling issues of climate change and conservation. He was a frequent voice on global environmental causes, notably addressing the UN climate conference in Paris in 2015.

Redford’s career spanned more than six decades, with performances in The Way We Were, The Natural, Indecent Proposal, The Horse Whisperer, and All Is Lost. His final starring role came in The Old Man & the Gun (2018), though he later made a cameo in Dark Winds (2025).

While celebrated with numerous honors—including an honorary Oscar in 2002, the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the SAG Life Achievement Award—his personal life also held heartbreak. He lost two of his four children, including his son James in 2020.

Redford married German artist Sibylle Szaggars in 2009, with whom he shared his later years.

He is survived by his wife, daughters Shauna and Amy, and several grandchildren.