Robert Redford dead: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid film icon dies at 89

Robert Redford, the big-screen actor turned Oscar-winning director, has died at the age of 89. Robert died early Tuesday morning in his sleep at his home in Utah.

His publicist revealed the Hollywood legend died in his sleep surrounded by loved ones, but did not share a cause of death at the time.

The actor, director, producer, and environmentalist is best known for his roles in classic films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, All the President’s Men, The Way We Were and Out of Africa. He won an Oscar for directing Ordinary People in 1980 and received an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar in 2002 for his services to film.

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Robert announced his retirement from acting in 2018, after starring in The Old Man & the Gun before making a cameo appearance in the TV show Dark Winds, on which he worked as an executive producer.

Regarded as one of the icons of the silver screen, Robert began his acting career on stage and television in the late 1950s and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before making his Broadway debut in the play Tall Story in 1959.

He went on to appear in several TV shows including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, and Route 66. His breakthrough role came in Neil Simon’s Broadway hit Barefoot in the Park in 1963, which led to his film debut in War Hunt and meteoric rise to the top as one of Hollywood's most dashing leading men.

Robert branched into directing in his 40s, and went on to win an Academy Award for Ordinary People. It also won Redford three other Oscars, including best picture.

He also directed The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992) and Quiz Show (1994). Quiz Show, which dramatised a notorious 1950s TV scandal, was nominated for four Oscars.

In 1981, Redford founded the Sundance Institute, which is a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating fresh cinematic voices.

The Sundance Film Festival has become recognised around the globe with directors including Quentin Tarantino, James Wan, Darren Aronofsky, Nicole Holofcener, David O. Russell, Ryan Coogler, Robert Rodriguez, Chloé Zhao and Ava DuVernay all being nurtured by the project.

Over the years, Rober became vocal about the festival becoming commercialised. It grew to over 85,000 attendees this year, from just a few hundred in the 1980s.

Robert's personal life was every bit as colourful as his characters on screen. He was twice married, first to American producer Lola Van Wagenen from 1958 to 1985 before marrying German born environmentalist Sibylle Szaggars in 2009.

Before her first date with Robert, Sibylle said she rented 'six or eight' of his movies to watch incase he brought them up - admitting she was unaware of his huge fame.

"It was a wonderful beginning of a relationship, because it began as two human beings meeting each other and finding a connection as two human beings, rather than being coloured by success," Robert said. The two tied the knot in a private ceremony in front of 30 family members and friends at the luxurious Louis C. Jacob Hotel in Sibylle's hometown of Hamburg, Germany, in July 2009.

He has four children with Van Wagenen: the late Scott, Shauna, the late James, and Amy. He also had romantic relationships with other women, including actresses Sonia Braga and Lena Olin.

One of his most famous romantic roles was starring opposite Barba=ra Streisand in 1973's The Way We Were. While the pair were seen falling in love on screen, off screen the pair came to blows.

Director Sydney Pollack recalled Redford voicing his concerns over working with Barbara due to her perceived “controlling” reputation on set.

“She has never been tested,” Redford told Pollack. “Her reputation is as a very controlling person. She will direct herself. It’ll never work.”

He was also concerned about the Funny Girl star's musical background, saying, “She’s not going to sing, is she? I [don’t] want her to sing in the middle of the movie.”

The tension between the stars continued during production, with Redford wearing “two athletic supporters for his love scene with Streisand, who chose to don a bikini” to not get too close with the actress, who was known for being romantically involved with her co-stars.

Despite the tension, the movie went on to be a huge box office hit and was nominated for several awards.

A statement from publicist Cindi Berger, chairman and chief executive of talent agency Rogers and Cowan PMK, announcing Robert's death said: “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.”

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