Actor-turned-Oscar-winning director Robert Redford passes away at 89

The legendary actor, director, and Sundance Film Festival founder Robert Redford has died at 89. Redford died surrounded by family at his Utah home on September 16, 2025. Cindi Berger, CEO of Rogers & Cowan PMK, confirmed the beloved star died peacefully in his sleep.

For over 60 years, Redford charmed audiences on both sides of the camera. He was the 1970s' golden boy of American cinema, starring in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Way We Were, and All the President's Men. 

Later, his Academy Award-winning directorial debut Ordinary People earned him respect. Redford's 1981 Sundance Institute fostered new filmmakers outside Hollywood. Redford was an icon whose life was as vast as the American landscapes he loved on screen.

Robert Redford: The News of His Passing

On Tuesday, September 16, 2025, Robert Redford died at his longtime Utah home in the mountains near Sundance. He was 89. Cindi Berger, chairman and CEO of Rogers & Cowan PMK, stated to PEOPLE,

"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. He will be missed greatly. The family requests privacy." 

As stated by NY Times,

"Redford died at his home outside Provo on Tuesday morning. No cause of death was given, but Berger told the outlet in a statement that he died in his sleep."

The world mourns a cinematic giant who acted, directed, and advocated for culture. Redford's death ends an era for Hollywood and independent filmmaking worldwide. Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, the Coen brothers, and Ava DuVernay tested their films at the Sundance Film Festival, a global institution. In the 1980s, The New York Times called him “a godfather to the American independent film movement.”

Robert Redford's Career That Defined Hollywood

Born Charles Robert Redford Jr. in Santa Monica on August 18, 1936, he grew up in a working-class Van Nuys neighborhood. Redford briefly attended the University of Colorado before studying art in Europe after losing his mother at 18. 

He later moved to New York City and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before succeeding on Broadway with Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. War Hunt (1962) and Barefoot in the Park (1967), starring Jane Fonda, were his breakthrough films.

Redford rose to fame in the 1960s, but Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, starring Paul Newman, made him famous. Their natural chemistry made the film a classic and cemented Redford's magnetic yet understated stardom. Redford was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for The Sting (1973), another Newman film that won Best Picture.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Redford starred in Jeremiah Johnson, The Candidate, The Way We Were, The Great Gatsby, Three Days of the Condor, and The Natural. He effortlessly switched between political thrillers, sweeping romances, and period dramas. His 1976 Watergate drama All the President's Men, which he produced and starred in, was influential. Journalism and democracy are defined by the film.

Redford's move behind the camera was equally significant. Ordinary People, his 1980 directorial debut, won four Oscars, including Best Picture and Director. A River Runs Through It, Quiz Show, and The Horse Whisperer were among his successful films.

"The goal for me was very simple: to celebrate people who don't get celebrated, who are ignored or undiscovered and who deserve to be discovered," Redford once said in an interview in 2019, as reported by CBS.

Indeed, Sundance helped launch countless filmmakers who reshaped modern cinema.

Redford's 1981 Sundance Institute founding may have been his greatest cultural contribution. He wanted underrepresented filmmakers to create and be heard. Sundance became the world's biggest independent film festival by 1985.