Italian
He passed away in his sleep at 89, one of the iconic figures of an era.
Charles Robert Redford Jr. died on the morning of September 16, 2025, in his home in Provo, Utah, where he lived with German artist Sibylle Szaggars, whom he married in 2009 after divorcing Lola Van Wagenen in 1985.
His life crossed paths with Lola’s when he met her as a 17-year-old university student in Utah, and their relationship had a positive influence on him. He quit drinking, and in 1958 enrolled at the Pratt Institute in New York to study art. There he developed an interest in screenwriting and, following his professor’s advice, decided to study acting to learn more about theater. Although acting had never attracted him, he ended up enjoying the experience.
This marked the intersection of his private life and his career, which began in 1958 when one of his professors gave him his first role on Broadway. By 1960 he was working in television, appearing in the anthology series Playhouse 90, the western The Deputy, and later in Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Twilight Zone.
Curiously, recalling his passing today, Redford once portrayed the role of Death in one episode of The Twilight Zone.
Of Scottish and Irish descent, Redford was born in Santa Monica, California, and grew up in the city’s Hispanic neighborhood on the west side. His family life was happy until tragedy struck when his mother was diagnosed with cancer and soon after passed away. This loss led him into a period of rebellion and heavy drinking, from which he was saved by his future wife, Lola. The only bright memory from those years was a trip to Yosemite National Park, which sparked his profound love of nature—something that would shape many of his films and inspire his lifelong activism.
In 1962 he made his film debut in Denis Sanders’ War Hunt, alongside John Saxon. His performance in Inside Daisy Clover, with Natalie Wood, won him a Golden Globe for Best New Star. In 1967 he starred opposite Jane Fonda in Barefoot in the Park. But it was in 1969 that he gained international fame, co-starring with Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The film became one of the most acclaimed westerns of all time, earning both critical and commercial success and marking the beginning of a lifelong friendship with Newman.
In the following years came Jeremiah Johnson (1972, directed by Sydney Pollack), which once again earned critical praise. In 1973 Redford starred in two films that immediately entered cinema history: The Way We Were (also directed by Pollack), where he played opposite Barbra Streisand, and The Sting, reuniting with Paul Newman. The latter was a worldwide hit, winning seven Academy Awards—including Best Picture and Best Director—and earned Redford his first and only Oscar nomination for Best Actor in 1974.
He went on to star in The Great Gatsby (1974), based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, Three Days of the Condor (1975), and All the President’s Men (1976), the celebrated film about the Watergate scandal in which he and Dustin Hoffman portrayed the journalists who uncovered the story. The film received multiple awards and eight Academy Award nominations in 1977.
As a director, Redford pursued an artistic path that garnered both critical and public recognition. His debut, Ordinary People (1980), was a commercial and critical success and won him the Academy Award for Best Director. Other films he directed include The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992), and Quiz Show (1994).
He continued acting as well, starring in Indecent Proposal alongside Demi Moore, and in 1998 directed and starred in The Horse Whisperer. In 2012 he released The Company You Keep, his final film as a director.
In November 2016 Redford announced his retirement from acting, although he continued directing. In 2017 he presented Our Souls at Night at the Venice International Film Festival, co-starring with his friend Jane Fonda. On that occasion, both received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. On August 7, 2018, he officially confirmed his retirement from acting.
But Redford became an icon not only for his distinguished career as an actor and director across many genres. The true Redford was also an activist. As early as 1977 he wrote The Outlaw Trail, a book denouncing U.S. expansion westward. He successfully fought against the construction of a power plant in Utah. In 2013 he appeared in TV spots for the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, urging then-President Barack Obama to adopt stricter measures on greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2016, Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S. He had previously received the National Medal of Arts in 1997 and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2005. In France, he was awarded the Legion of Honor in 2010.
Despite such recognition, Redford never lived in self-reference. His intellectual generosity shone when, in 1981, with his friend Sydney Pollack, he founded the Sundance Institute on his property in Utah, named after his iconic “Sundance Kid” role.
The institute, launched without institutional support, financed young filmmakers’ projects, providing four weeks of free resources, mentorship, and technical equipment. It later gave rise to the famous Sundance Film Festival, which helped discover and launch independent filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Jim Jarmusch, and Christopher Nolan.
From everything we’ve recalled, it’s clear the void he leaves behind is immense: as an actor, director, and above all as a man who used his talents not only for himself but to radiate beauty and positive energy throughout his life. For this reason, Robert Redford can undoubtedly be remembered as an icon and a guiding light for future generations.
