Screen Legend Robert Redford Died Peacefully at Home in Sundance, Utah, Sept. 16 at 89

Champion of Independent Film & Values Beyond the Screen

Robert Redford, an American screen legend whose presence defined movie glamour, earnest storytelling, and a lifelong commitment to artistic independence, died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Sundance, Utah, on September 16, 2025. He was 89.

Born Charles Robert Redford Jr. in Santa Monica, California, on August 18, 1936, Redford early on displayed a restless artistic spirit. He pursued painting and design, studying at the University of Colorado and Pratt Institute, before turning more fully toward acting.

He made his film debut in the early 1960s, gradually winning attention for his beauty, charisma, and surprising depth—traits that would become hallmarks of his long career.

Redford’s breakthrough came with roles in Barefoot in the Park (1967) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), the latter of which both placed him among Hollywood’s top leading men and solidified his “Sundance” persona in the popular imagination.

Over the decades, he oscillated between star-and-heartthrob roles (The Way We Were, Out of Africa), morally ambiguous characters (The Candidate, All the President’s Men), and more introspective turns in his later years.

Redford also became an acclaimed director. His film Ordinary People (1980) earned both Best Picture and Best Director Academy Awards. He followed that with other well-received projects, including Quiz Show and A River Runs Through It.

Champion of Independent Film & Values Beyond the Screen

Perhaps one of Redford’s most enduring legacies is the establishment of the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, which grew from his desire to cultivate new voices, to challenge the studios, and to foster artistic freedom. What began modestly as a filmmakers’ lab evolved into one of the flagships of independent cinema in the United States and beyond.

He was also known for his environmental activism, political engagement, and a personal ethic of integrity and expansiveness in his art. Whether through interviews, public statements, or film work, Redford used his platform to raise awareness on issues he believed in.

Redford’s work won him many honors: an Academy Award (for Best Director), an honorary Oscar, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Kennedy Center Honors, and many more.

He was married twice; at the end of his life he was wed to longtime partner Sibylle Szaggars, with whom he shared his home in Sundance, Utah. He is survived by two of his children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Robert Redford was many things: a romantic lead, a political conscience, a director of psychological nuance, a mentor to independent filmmakers, a steward of places like Sundance that now feel as much part of his legacy as Butch Cassidy or The Sting. He had an ability to balance commercial success with artistry, to bridge audience appeal and personal voice.

As the world reflects on his passing, it is clear he reshaped not just what Hollywood could produce, but what it could support: stories with risk, voices that were non-mainstream, and art that held character and moral weight. His influence will continue — on screen, behind the camera, and in every young filmmaker who dares to tell a story outside the expected.

Robert Redford will be deeply missed — by his family, by colleagues, by cinephiles, and by anyone who found in his films a measure of hope, of questioning, or simply of beauty. He lived as he performed: with grace, intelligence, and conviction.

Similar Stories