Robert Redford has died. The actor, director, environmentalist, and philanthropist passed away at the age of 89. The news was shared by his publicist, Cindi Berger, Chairman and CEO of Rogers and 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. He will be missed greatly,” Berger said in a statement. “The family requests privacy.”
Redford is known for his roles in All the President’s Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He also directed Ordinary People and A River Runs Through It. He is also the founder of the Sundance Film Festival.
For Disney, Redford is most well-known for his portrayal of Alexander Pierce in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Endgame in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He also narrated the film Sacred Planet. He also played Warren Justice in Up Close & Personal. On top of that, he produced and directed Quiz Show. In Pete’s Dragon, he played a local storyteller named Mr. Meacham. He also played Einar Gilkyson in An Unfinished Life, produced A Civil Action and People I Know, and produced and directed The Horse Whisperer, in which he also played Tom Booker.
He was known for his passion for the art of filmmaking. He created the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit that supports independent film and theater and puts on the annual Sundance Film Festival.
Redford was also a dedicated environmentalist. He moved to Utah in 1961 and led efforts to preserve the natural landscape of the state and the American West.
He continued to act late into life. His final film was in 2018’s The Old Man & the Gun. He acted in this film at the age of 82. Even though it was his last film, he said he wasn’t considering retiring.
“To me, retirement means stopping something or quitting something,” he told CBS Sunday Morning in 2018. “There’s this life to lead, why not live it as much as you can as long as you can?”
In 2017, Esquire asked Redford what he wanted to be remembered for. He said, “For the work. What really matters is the work. And what matters to me is doing the work. I’m not looking at the back end: ‘What am I going to get out of this? What’s going to be the reward?’ I’m just looking at the work, the pleasure of being able to do the work.”
“And that’s what the fun is: to climb up the mountain is the fun, not standing at the top,” Redford continued. “There’s nowhere to go. But climbing up, that struggle, that to me is where the fun is. That to me is the thrill.”
Robert Redford was born on August 18, 1936, in Van Nuys, California. After high school, he went to the University of Colorado on a partial baseball scholarship. He left during his sophomore year to travel Europe. There, he studied painting before returning to the United States and switching vocations. He enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and studied acting. He graduated in 1959.
He would go on to appear in multiple shows like The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, The Untouchables, and others throughout the 1960s. His film debut was an uncredited appearance in Tall Story in 1960, which starred Anthony Perkins and Jane Fonda. His big break was in Barefoot in the Park in 1963 on Broadway with Elizabeth Ashley. This led to bigger roles both on stage and on the silver screen for Redford. This led to two decades of movie roles for the actor, including one of his biggest hits when he and Paul Newman starred in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969. In 1973, Newman and Redford came together again to appear as Chicago con men in The Sting.
Throughout the 1970s, Redford continued to star in hits. One of these that stood out was All the President’s Men in 1976. Redford and Dustin Hoffman played real-life Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in the film based on the book of the same name. This told the story of the two reporters’ investigation of the Watergate scandal and White House cover-up.
Redford continued to act in films as time went on. He also began to direct. Throughout the course of his career, he would direct 12 feature films. Between acting and directing, he would remain busy in Hollywood for over six decades. While he never intended to completely retire, he did say he was stepping back from being in front of the camera after his final role in 2018’s The Old Man and the Gun. “I’ve been doing it since I was 21,” Redford said, in part. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s enough.’”
Although he was one of Hollywood’s most bankable actors, he was also very active in promoting independent films. He was also active in politics throughout his life, particularly in regards to the environment, Native American issues, and civil rights. He would support candidates on both sides of the aisle as he pushed his agenda through the year. In 2005, he founded the Redford Center with his son James Redford. It was created with the mission of “merging the powers of environmental justice, collective action, education, and impact filmmaking.” Throughout his life, he was a longtime trustee for the Natural Resources Defense Council, recognized by the National Audubon Society for his dedication to environmental issues, given the National Medal of the Arts in 1996 by President Clinton, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 by President Obama.
He also earned numerous awards for his work in Hollywood. This included four Oscar nominations, two of which he would win. The first was for directing Ordinary People in 1980. He would also win a BAFTA Award, five Golden Globe Awards, along with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1996, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2002.
Robert Redford was married twice. He first married Lola Van Wagenen. They were married for 27 years and divorced in 1985. They had four children together, with one dying in infancy. Redford then married longtime partner, artist Sibylle Szaggars, in 2009. He is survived by Szaggars and his children.
