Robert Redford once attempted to draw the curtain on his legendary career, only to discover that he was a master of everything except quitting. Just weeks after he floated his plan to "move towards retirement" in 2018, he confessed to The New York Times, "I can't fathom stopping entirely; rather, I see myself forging ahead into uncharted territory." Indeed, the multifaceted icon traversed an expansive landscape before his passing on September 16 at the age of 89. Over his decades-long career, he starred in a parade of iconic films, including *All the President’s Men*, *The Sting*, *The Natural*, and *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid*, while also stepping behind the camera to helm films like *Ordinary People*. His publicist confirmed his death in a statement to E! News, noting, "He died peacefully at his beloved Sundance home in the Utah mountains, surrounded by those he cherished." The publicist added, "He will be deeply missed. The family requests privacy during this time."
Born Charles Robert Redford Jr. on August 18, 1936, to Charles Sr. and Martha, Redford grew up in Santa Monica during the 1940s as a gifted athlete with a mischievous streak, often skipping school. "I was never a stellar student," Redford recounted in a 2013 NPR interview. "My mind wandered. I doodled under desks, sketched pictures. I wasn’t absorbing knowledge the way I was supposed to. I realized my true education would unfold when I stepped out into the world, engaging with diverse cultures, places, languages, and embarking on adventures. That, I felt, was my real schooling."
Eager to escape California, he enrolled at the University of Colorado, Boulder. "I wasn’t content," Redford admitted in a 1998 New Yorker interview. "I was drinking, endlessly dreaming of Europe—of Utrillo, Matisse, Braque. I yearned to be where they had been. Los Angeles wasn’t enough, and Colorado felt too close." So, in 1956, he dropped out and ventured to Europe, seeking fresh perspectives. "Around that time, I began discovering who I was," Redford reflected. "It was as if a veil had been lifted. I’d dabbled in sports, caused trouble, and suddenly, everything clicked. I carried a sketchpad everywhere, drawing, jotting notes. A new consciousness awakened within me."
Upon his return, he briefly moved back to Los Angeles, where he met and married Lola Van Wagenen. Together, they welcomed sons Scott (who tragically died at two months old in 1959) and James (who passed away at 58 in 2020), along with daughters Shauna and Amy, during their 30-year marriage. The couple relocated to New York so Redford could attend the Pratt Institute before transferring to The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. There, he portrayed Konstantin Treplev in Chekhov’s *The Seagull*, a role he credited with transforming his perspective on acting. "Something shifted," Redford told AARP in 2011. "It was the moment everything began to crystallize for me."
From humble stage and television roles, Redford made his film debut in *War Hunt* (1962) and soon carved out one of Hollywood’s most storied careers, starring in classics like *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid*, *The Natural*, *The Way We Were*, *All the President’s Men*, and *Out of Africa*. Unsatisfied with merely acting, he built a parallel career as a producer and director. A four-time Oscar nominee, Redford claimed his sole competitive Academy Award for Best Director with *Ordinary People* (1981). He also received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2002 for his contributions to cinema, including founding the Sundance Institute and Film Festival.
Redford’s Sundance endeavors also led him to his second wife, Sibylle Szaggards. The pair met in the late 1990s, years after his divorce from Van Wagenen, while she visited his Sundance Mountain Resort. They married in 2009. A devout nature lover, Redford first glimpsed the land that would become his 2,600-acre resort while riding his motorcycle from California to the University of Colorado—a habit that exposed him to countless breathtaking vistas. "There’s a mile-long tunnel near Fresno, California," Redford recalled to TIME in 2018. "Emerging from it, you’re greeted by Inspiration Point and Yosemite National Park—a divine landscape sculpted by nature. That’s when I became not just aware of nature, but almost obsessed with its purest form."
This passion fueled his lifelong environmental advocacy. He played a pivotal role in preserving Utah’s 1.7-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument under President Bill Clinton, established a wildlife sanctuary in Utah, and served on the board of the Natural Resources Defense Council. With his late son James, he co-founded The Redford Center, a nonprofit promoting environmental solutions through film. "I realized how vital the environment was to me—and how crucial it was to protect it," Redford told his grandson Conor Schlosser in a 2024 Orion interview. "Many saw nature as something to exploit for profit. But early on, I understood that safeguarding it wouldn’t be easy, and I vowed to play my part."
