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Redford was a liberal activist and godfather for independent cinema under the name of one of his best-loved characters, the Sundance Kid.
Published On 16 Sep 2025
Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning actor, director and godfather for independent cinema as Sundance founder, has died at the age of 89.
Redford died “at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah – the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,” publicist Cindi Berger said in a statement Tuesday.
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No cause of death was provided.
The iconic actor and director is best known for his acclaimed performances in All the President’s Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The tousled-haired and freckled heartthrob made his breakthrough alongside Paul Newman as the affable outlaw in the hippy Western “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” in 1969.
Redford made hearts beat faster in romantic roles such as “Out of Africa,” got political in “The Candidate” and “All the President’s Men” and skewered his golden-boy image in roles like the alcoholic ex-rodeo champ in “The Electric Horseman” and middle-aged millionaire who offers to buy sex in “Indecent Proposal.”
He never won the best actor Oscar, but his first outing as a director – the 1980 family drama “Ordinary People” – won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director.
Despite their chemistry and long personal friendship, Redford was never to team up again with Newman, who died in 2008.
“Butch Cassidy” made blue-eyed Redford an overnight star but he never felt comfortable with celebrity or the male starlet image that persisted late into his 60s.
“People have been so busy relating to how I look, it’s a miracle I didn’t become a self-conscious blob of protoplasm. It’s not easy being Robert Redford,” he once told New York magazine.
His wavy blond hair and boyish grin made him the most desired of leading men, but he worked hard to transcend his looks – whether through his political advocacy, his willingness to take on unglamorous roles or his dedication to providing a platform for low-budget movies.
Intensely private, he bought land in remote Utah in the early 1970s for his family retreat and enjoyed a level of privacy unknown to most superstars. He was married for more than 25 years to his first wife, before their divorce in 1985. In 2009, he married for a second time, to German artist and longtime partner Sibylle Szaggars.
He used the millions he made to launch the Sundance Institute and Festival in the 1970s, promoting independent filmmaking long before small and quirky were fashionable. The festival has become one of the most influential independent film showcases in the world.
Redford used his star status to also quietly champion environmental causes such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Wildlife Federation.
“Some people have analysis. I have Utah,” he once remarked.
Although he never showed an interest in entering politics, he often espoused a liberal viewpoint. In a 2017 interview, during the presidency of Donald Trump, he told Esquire magazine that “politics is in a very dark place right now” and that Trump should “quit for our benefit”.
In 2001, Redford won an honorary, or lifetime achievement, Oscar.
