Screen icon and Academy Award-winning director Robert Redford has died at the age of 89.
“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. The family requests privacy,” a statement from his publicist Cindi Berger read Tuesday.
Redford played the wily outlaw opposite Paul Newman in 1969’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” a box-office smash from which Redford’s Sundance Institute and festival got its name.
One of the biggest stars of the ’70s, Redford was also known for his roles in “All the President’s Men, “The Candidate” and “The Way We Were.” His appearance in the 1973 film “The Sting” earned him his first Oscar nomination.
He later won the best-director Oscar in 1980 for “Ordinary People,” which also won best picture that year.
Redford continued earning praise throughout the ’80s and beyond. He starred in 1985’s best picture champion “Out of Africa” and in 2013 received some of the best reviews of his career as a shipwrecked sailor in “All is Lost,” in which he was the film’s only performer. In 2018, he was praised again in what he called his farewell movie, “The Old Man and the Gun.”
“I just figure that I’ve had a long career that I’m very pleased with. It’s been so long, ever since I was 21,” he told The Associated Press shortly before the film came out. “I figure now as I’m getting into my 80s, it’s maybe time to move toward retirement and spend more time with my wife and family.”
Redford was also an advocate for a number of environmental causes. He was an outspoken advocate for action on climate change, renewable energy, and public lands protection and founded the Sundance Institute in 1981, which is known for supporting independent film.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our founder and friend Robert Redford. Bob’s vision of a space and a platform for independent voices launched a movement that, over four decades later, has inspired generations of artists and redefined cinema in the U.S. and around the world,” the Sundance Institute said in a statement Tuesday. “We are humbled to be among the stewards of his remarkable legacy, which will continue to guide the Institute in perpetuity.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.