Cinema legend Robert Redford, the screen icon whose career spanned six decades both in front of and behind the camera, died Tuesday morning at his home in Utah, his publicist confirmed. He was 89.
Redford died in his sleep, with no specific cause given, according to Cindi Berger, chief executive of publicity firm Rogers & Cowan PMK.
“Robert Redford passed away on September 16, 2025, at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,” Berger said in a statement.
The tousle-haired, freckled heartthrob made his breakthrough alongside Paul Newman in 1969’s Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
After two decades as an actor, Redford stepped behind the camera, later co-founding the Sundance Festival to support aspiring independent filmmakers.
He won the Academy Award for Best Director with Ordinary People (1980) and received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2002.
A lifelong environmental activist, Redford was also committed to preserving Utah’s landscapes and resources.
Pure joy
Meryl Streep, who starred opposite him in Out of Africa, called him “one of the lions.”
“Rest in peace my lovely friend,” she said.
Jane Fonda, who debuted with Redford in 1960’s Tall Story and reunited in Barefoot in the Park (1967), mourned “a beautiful person in every way.”
“It hit me hard this morning when I read that Bob was gone. I can’t stop crying… He stood for an America we have to keep fighting for,” she said.
Barbra Streisand, his co-star in The Way We Were, remembered: “Every day with Redford was exciting, intense and pure joy… one of the finest actors ever.”
US President Donald Trump also weighed in: “Robert Redford had a series of years where there was nobody better.”
One of Redford’s most beloved performances was All the President’s Men (1976), the classic political thriller about the journalists who exposed the Watergate scandal.
He earned his only Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his role in The Sting (1973), playing a Depression-era con artist.
Born Charles Robert Redford Jr on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, he was the son of an accountant.
Redford had four children with his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen, one of whom died in infancy. He married German artist Sibylle Szaggars in 2009.
Redefined cinema
In Utah, fans gathered to honour both Redford’s cinematic legacy and his conservation work.
“I’ll remember him for his commitment to protect nature, Native Americans and animals,” said Monika Suter, a 59-year-old Swiss pastry chef, holding back tears outside a building named after him.
One of his greatest achievements was launching the Sundance Film Festival in 1985, an antidote to Hollywood’s commercialism that nurtured filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our founder and friend Robert Redford,” the Sundance Institute said.
“Bob’s vision of a space and a platform for independent voices launched a movement that, over four decades later, has inspired generations of artists and redefined cinema in the US and around the world.”