By Ekin Karasin
Copyright standard
Robert Redford, the Hollywood screen idol turned director and activist, has died at 89.
The Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid actor died in his sleep on Tuesday at his home in the mountains of Utah, his representative Cindy Berger said.
He passed away in “the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,” and “will be missed greatly,” she added.
The Oscar-winning director’s cause of death has not been revealed.
Redford, who was one of the founders of the Sundance Film Festival, made more than 50 films across his six-decade career.
Once dismissed as “just another California blond”, his charm and craggy good looks made him one of the industry’s most bankable leading men for half a century, and one of the world’s most recognisable and best-loved movie stars.
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 used his millions to buy land in a ski area in Utah called Timp Haven and launched the Sundance Institute and Festival there in the 1970s, promoting independent filmmaking long before small and quirky were fashionable.
Redford – who was born in Santa Monica, California, in 1936 – leaves behind his wife Sibylle Szaggars who he married in 2009.
He had previously been married to Lola Van Wagenen and the couple had four children – artist Shauna, director Amy, Scott, and activist and filmmaker James. They divorced in 1995.
Scott died at the age of two months from sudden infant death syndrome, CBS reported, and James died of liver cancer aged 58 in 2020.
Redford 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.
He remained best known for the two early movies he made with Paul Newman – the 1969 western caper Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Sting (1973), both of which became classics.
Other acting highlights include Downhill Racer (1969), The Candidate (1972), and All the President’s Men (1976).
He received an honorary Oscar in 2002 as an “actor, director, producer, creator of Sundance, inspiration to independent and innovative filmmakers everywhere”.
He also nabbed three Golden Globe Awards, including the Cecil B DeMille lifetime achievement honor in 1994.
Redford’s last acting job was in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, in which he reprised his role as Secretary Alexander Pierce alongside stars like Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Evans.
The Hollywood icon announced in 2018 that he was retiring from acting.
“Never say never but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting,” the then-81-year-old told Entertainment Weekly.
“I’ll move towards retirement after this ‘cause I’ve been doing it since I was 21.
“I thought, well, that’s enough. And why not go out with something that’s very upbeat and positive?”
Redford was also a passionate activist and fought for environmental causes throughout his career.
He raised awareness about clean energy and was on the board of the Natural Resources Defense Council for decades. The star also gave his name and funding to a wildlife preserve in Utah.
He shared the “wake-up call” moment that inspired his activism during a 2021 interview.
“I was attending a conference in Denver, in 1989, where there was a presentation by two scientists who explained Earth’s temperatures were rising — they called it global warming,” he told Rolling Stone.
“They explained what would happen if we ignored this threat. That moment was my wake-up call.
“I knew they were speaking the truth. Because one thing we’ve learned is that time waits for no one. I realised that when there’s something you have to do, you better act, and act quickly.”
