Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning actor and director who became one of the defining faces of American cinema and later the driving force behind the Sundance Film Festival, has died aged 89.
His publicist said he passed away in his sleep at his home in Utah.
A star of the New Hollywood era
Tall, blond and quietly charismatic, Redford rose to fame at the end of the 1960s in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where his partnership with Paul Newman became one of the most celebrated screen pairings of the era. The film’s success catapulted him into a decade of hits that included Jeremiah Johnson, The Way We Were with Barbra Streisand, and All the President’s Men, in which he played Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward.
He was equally at home in glossy romance, period drama and political thriller, his understated style earning him both commercial success and critical respect.
From leading man to filmmaker
Redford turned to directing in 1980 with Ordinary People, a family drama that won four Oscars, including best picture and best director. It set the tone for a second career behind the camera, with films such as A River Runs Through It and Quiz Show cementing his reputation as a thoughtful, meticulous filmmaker.
He continued acting alongside his directing work. Later highlights included Out of Africa (1985), The Natural (1984) and, decades later, a near-wordless turn in the survival drama All Is Lost (2013), which won him some of the best reviews of his career.
Sundance and independent cinema
Perhaps his greatest legacy was Sundance. What began in Utah in the early 1980s as a small gathering of filmmakers grew into the most influential festival for independent cinema in the US. Sundance launched the careers of Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh and Darren Aronofsky, and gave early exposure to films such as Reservoir Dogs, Napoleon Dynamite and Coda.
For Redford, the festival was about giving filmmakers freedom. “It was a place for people to take risks,” he once said.
Activism and politics
Away from film, Redford was an outspoken campaigner, particularly on environmental issues. He worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council, opposed the Keystone XL pipeline, and often used his platform to highlight climate change. He was also one of Hollywood’s most visible liberal voices, unafraid to weigh in on political debates.
Final roles and recognition
In his later years, Redford remained selective about his work. He played a government official with a dark secret in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and returned for what he said would be his final leading role in The Old Man & the Gun (2018).
Honours accumulated throughout his career: an honorary Oscar in 2002, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, and lifetime achievement awards from Venice and other festivals.
Early life and personal history
Charles Robert Redford Jr was born in Santa Monica in 1936 and grew up in Los Angeles. After an unsettled spell at university, he studied acting in New York. A stage role in Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park led him to Hollywood.
He was married twice: first to historian Lola Van Wagenen, with whom he had four children, and later to German artist Sibylle Szaggars in 2009.
An enduring influence
Redford’s death marks the loss of a figure who bridged the gap between mainstream Hollywood and independent film. He was a matinee idol who became a serious filmmaker, and an activist who believed cinema could be a force for change.
His influence, through Sundance and through the films he made and inspired, will be felt long after his passing.
