Robert Redford

Robert Redford, the actor and director known for his roles in classics like "All the President's Men," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and "The Sting," died September 16, 2025, at his home in Utah at the age of 89.

Born in Santa Monica, California, Redford got his start on the stages of New York City in the 1950s and 1960s, then transitioned to television in 1960. He appeared on a wide range of shows, including "Perry Mason," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," and "The Twilight Zone." In 1963, he received an Emmy nomination for his work in an episode of the adventure series "Rescue 8."

His television era did not last long. Redford began to land film roles, roles that grew increasingly prominent throughout the decade. In 1969, he finally rose to true stardom when he starred alongside Paul Newman (1925–2008) in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Now seen as a classic of the western genre, the film established Redford as a bona fide box office draw.

His success continued well into the 1970s with a string of commercial and critical hits. They included "The Way We Were" and "The Sting," both in 1973 (with the latter earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor), "The Great Gatsby" in 1974, "Three Days of the Condor" in 1975, the critically acclaimed "All the President's Men" in 1976 (alongside Dustin Hoffman), and "A Bridge Too Far" in 1977.

In 1980, Redford turned his attention toward directing. His debut, "Ordinary People," won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Other Redford-directed films include "A River Runs Through It" and "The Horse Whisperer." Filmmaking did not keep him away from acting, however. He continued to draw at the box office with films like "The Natural" (1984), the Academy Award-winning "Out of Africa" (1985) alongside Meryl Streep, and "Indecent Proposal" (1993), and he even made late-career appearances in superhero films, such as "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014) and "Avengers: Endgame" (2019).

In a 2019 interview for Collider, Redford talked about the beginning of his lifelong love for cinema: "I was a little kid during the Second World War and there was no television, only radio, and the dream was on the weekend to walk to the neighborhood theater and see a movie. To me that was such a joy… The lights would go off and you could feel some magic happening on the big screen and feel the energy of the people around you."

When not on screen or behind the camera, Redford advocated for the art of cinema in other ways. He was the founder of the Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in the United States. He owned two production companies, Wildwood Enterprises and Sundance Productions, and he founded the nonprofit Sundance Institute.

Redford was also a bipartisan political activist, supporting candidates from both parties, and in particular advocating for environmental causes, LGBTQ+ rights, and issues affecting Native Americans. He was recognized by the National Audubon Society with their Audubon Medal, received honorary doctorates from Bard College and Brown University, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton. He won lifetime achievement honors at the Academy Awards and Venice Film Festival, and in 2016, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

By Eric San Juan

(Image: Everett Collection)