New York Times, “Robert Redford, Screen Idol Turned Director and Activist, Dies at 89“
Robert Redford, the big-screen charmer turned Oscar-winning director whose hit movies often helped America make sense of itself and who, off screen, evangelized for environmental causes and fostered the Sundance-centered independent film movement, died early Tuesday morning at his home in Utah. He was 89.
His death, in the mountains outside Provo, was announced in a statement by Cindi Berger, the chief executive of the publicity firm Rogers & Cowan PMK. She said he had died in his sleep but did not provide a specific cause. He was in “the place he loved surrounded by those he loved,” the statement said.
With a distaste for Hollywood’s dumb-it-down approach to moviemaking, Mr. Redford typically demanded that his films carry cultural weight, in many cases making serious topics like grief and political corruption resonate with audiences, in no small part because of his immense star power.
As an actor, his biggest films included “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), with its loving look at rogues in a dying West, and “All the President’s Men” (1976), about the journalistic pursuit of President Richard M. Nixon in the Watergate era. In “Three Days of the Condor” (1975) he was an introverted C.I.A. codebreaker caught in a murderous cat-and-mouse game. “The Sting” (1973), about Depression-era grifters, gave Mr. Redford his first and only Oscar nomination as an actor.
Mr. Redford was one of Hollywood’s preferred leads for decades, whether in comedies, dramas or thrillers; studios often sold him as a sex symbol. His body of work as a romantic leading man owed a great deal to the commanding actresses who were paired with him — Jane Fonda in “Barefoot in the Park” (1967), Barbra Streisand in “The Way We Were” (1973), Meryl Streep in “Out of Africa” (1985).
“Redford has never been so radiantly glamorous,” the critic Pauline Kael wrote in The New Yorker, “as when we saw him through Barbra Streisand’s infatuated eyes.”
He branched into directing in his 40s and won an Academy Award for his first effort, “Ordinary People” (1980), about an upper-middle-class family’s disintegration after a son’s death. “Ordinary People” won three other Oscars, including for best picture.
His next film as a director, “The Milagro Beanfield War” (1988), a comedic drama about a New Mexican farmer denied water rights by uncaring developers, was a flop. But Mr. Redford stubbornly refused to pursue less esoteric material. Instead, he directed and produced “A River Runs Through It” (1992), a spare period drama about Montana fly fishermen pondering existential questions, and “Quiz Show” (1994), about a notorious 1950s television scandal. “Quiz Show” was nominated for four Oscars, including best picture and best director.
Perhaps Mr. Redford’s greatest cultural impact was as a make-it-up-as-he-went independent film impresario. In 1981, he founded the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating fresh cinematic voices. He took over a struggling film festival in Utah in 1984 and renamed it after the institute a few years later.
Variety, “Robert Redford, ‘Butch Cassidy’ and ‘All the President’s Men’ Icon, Dies at 89“
Robert Redford, the leading man with the golden-boy looks who won an Oscar for directing “Ordinary People” and later became a godfather for independent film as founder of the Sundance Film Institute, has died. He was 89.
Cindi Berger, chief executive of the publicity firm Rogers & Cowan PMK, confirmed the news to Variety.
“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. “He will be missed greatly. The family requests privacy.”
The actor-turned-director — who had a stellar run in such films as “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Way We Were,” “The Sting,” “Three Days of the Condor” and “All the President’s Men” — had worked less frequently both in front of and behind the camera in recent years.
His last on-screen acting job was in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” in which he reprised his role as Secretary Alexander Pierce and joined several other Marvel vets such as Michael Douglas and Tilda Swinton.
Redford had starring roles in “A Walk in the Woods,” which became a breakout indie hit, while 2018’s “The Old Man & the Gun” drew positive reviews. He also served as executive producer on numerous television projects, most recently for AMC thriller “Dark Winds.”
In his ’70s heyday, few actors possessed Redford’s star wattage, aided considerably by his tousled blond locks, granite jaw and million-dollar smile. With his environmental activism, anti-establishment approach to filmmaking and pioneering efforts in providing a platform for indie filmmakers, Redford was able to use his celebrity to subvert the status quo while advancing his own creative agenda.
Like Gary Cooper, Gregory Peck and Steve McQueen, Robert Redford was never about having a particularly wide range as an actor, but as a movie star in his prime, few could touch him.
“He’s a very instinctive, impulsive actor,” the late Sydney Pollack told Variety in 2002. “I don’t think there’s anything studied or premeditated about the work. He’s the opposite of the actor who wants to rehearse and pin things down.”
Starting in 1959, Redford traded his time between television, appearing in such shows as “Perry Mason,” “Playhouse 90,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and “The Twilight Zone,” and acting on the New York stage, in such productions as “Tall Story,” his theatrical debut, and Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park” (1963), reprising the latter role in the 1967 Hollywood version opposite Jane Fonda.
He made his feature film debut in 1962’s “War Hunt,” in which he appeared with another young actor, Pollack, who would eventually direct Redford in seven movies, also including “Out of Africa” and “The Electric Horseman.’
After co-starring in two films with Natalie Wood — “Inside Daisy Clover” (1965), a lurid tale of the Hollywood starmaking machinery, and “This Property Is Condemned” (1966), his first collaboration with director Pollack — Redford’s breakthrough role was as the Sundance Kid to Paul Newman’s Butch Cassidy in what would become the top-grossing film of 1969.
In 1972, “The Hot Rock” and “The Candidate” both provided solid roles before a string of films that made him a superstar.
Starting with successful Western “Jeremiah Johnson,” he then reunited with Newman, and earn an Oscar nomination, for “The Sting,” the Motion Picture Academy’s pick for best picture of 1973, and would become the No. 1 box office star for the next three years. Also in 1973, he cemented his role as a romantic lead opposite Barbra Streisand in “The Way We Were.” Despite lukewarm reviews, it made $50 million dollars and bolstered his smoldering reputation.
Subsequent starring roles included “The Great Gatsby,” “Three Days of the Condor” and “All the President’s Men,” which Redford exec produced, starred in and shepherded from the early manuscript stage of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s bestselling book. The film racked up eight Oscar nominations, losing the top award to “Rocky.”
In the 1980s and ’90, he transitioned into more mature roles, from the middle-aged baseball player of “The Natural” to the free-spirited big game hunter in “Out of Africa” and the callous rich gambler in “Indecent Proposal.”
Redford’s rise to the top was all the more remarkable given his penchant for characters who were aloof, sardonic, even thorny. In films like “This Property Is Condemned,” “Downhill Racer” and “Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here,” he played unrepentant heels, and yet his charisma was undeniable.
The sheer breadth and longevity of his career were remarkable. Going from movie star to top-tier director has precedent, of course, but it’s still unusual. That he may be best remembered for taking a moribund film festival and making it a major annual event is quite the legacy.
