Robert Redford Dies At 89

Beloved movie star Robert Redford has died at 89. The Oscar-winning actor, director, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival died at his home in Provo, Utah, according to The New York Times.

"Robert Redford passed away on Sept. 16, 2025, at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved," his representative Cindi Berger told People in a statement. “He will be missed greatly. The family requests privacy.” While a cause of death is not yet known, Berger told NYT that he died in his sleep.

Redford got his start on Broadway in the late 1950s, drawing raves for the 1963 play Barefoot in the Park, before transitioning to film and TV. He instantly became a bona fide 1970s heartthrob after his breakout role in 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which kicked off a streak that included The Great Gatsby, The Way We Were, and The Sting, for which he landed an Oscar nod for Best Actor.

Redford found even more success as a filmmaker, winning the Oscar for Best Director in 1980 for Ordinary People, and landing another Best Director nod for 1994’s Quiz Show. In 2002, he received an honorary Oscar for his career achievements. He is also credited with founding Sundance in 1984, which has grown to become one of the world’s leading independent film festivals.

In 2018, Redford announced that he was retiring from acting, making The Old Man & the Gun his final film, save for a previously filmed cameo in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. “I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting,” he told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s enough.’ And why not go out with something that’s very upbeat and positive?”

Celebs Pay Tribute

Naturally, some fellow Hollywood stars are paying their respects. Marlee Matlin called him a “genius” on X, stating, “Our film, CODA, came to the attention of everyone because of Sundance. And Sundance happened because of Robert Redford.” Rosie O’Donnell paid tribute on Instagram, writing, “Oh hubbell - we will never be the same - goodnight bob - what a legacy.”

Jane Fonda, who co-starred with Redford in several films over the years, from 1960’s Tall Story to 2017’s Our Souls at Night, shared a statement with Just Jared. “It hit me hard this morning when I read that Bob was gone,” she wrote. “I can’t stop crying. He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way. He stood for an America we have to keep fighting for.”

Meryl Streep shared a statement with Deadline about her Out of Africa co-star, saying, “One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace my lovely friend.” Barbra Streisand posted a touching tribute on Instagram, sharing her fondest memories with her The Way We Were screen partner, and recalling their time on set as “exciting, intense and pure joy.”

“We were such opposites: he was from the world of horses; I was allergic to them!” she wrote. “Yet, we kept trying to find out more about each other, just like the characters in the movie. Bob was charismatic, intelligent, intense, always interesting— and one of the finest actors ever. The last time I saw him, when he came to lunch, we discussed art and decided to send each other our first drawings.”

Redford is survived by his wife, Sibylle Szaggars, his two children with ex-wife Lola Van Wagenen, and seven grandchildren.