18 Aug 1936 - 16 Sep 2025 (89 years)

Charles Robert Redford Jr. was an American actor, director and producer, celebrated for his magnetic presence as a leading man during the American New Wave. Across a career spanning more than six decades, Redford earned widespread recognition and numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and five Golden Globe Awards, (including a Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994). He has also received various honors including the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1996, the Academy Honorary Award in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2005, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 and the Honorary César in 2019.

Redford made his directorial debut with the family drama Ordinary People (1980), which won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. His later directing credits include The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992), Quiz Show (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998) and The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000). A major advocate for independent cinema, Redford co-founded the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival in 1978, helping to foster a new generation of filmmakers. Beyond his artistic career, he was noted for his environmental activism, his support of Native American and Indigenous rights and his advocacy for LGBTQ equality.

On August 9, 1958, Redford married Lola Van Wagenen in Las Vegas. The couple had four children: Scott Anthony, Shauna Jean, David James and Amy Hart. Scott died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) at the age of 2½ months. Shauna is a painter and married to journalist Eric Schlosser. James was a writer and producer who died of cancer in 2020. Amy is an actress, director and producer. Redford had seven grandchildren.

Redford and Van Wagenen never publicly announced a separation or divorce, but in 1982, entertainment columnist Shirley Eder reported that the pair "have been very much apart for several years." Redford was negotiating their divorce settlement while filming Out of Africa in 1984. In 1991, Parade magazine said, "it is unclear whether the divorce has been finalized."

On July 11, 2009, Redford and his longtime girlfriend, Sibylle Szaggars, married at the Louis C. Jacob Hotel in Hamburg, Germany. She had moved in with Redford in 1996 and shared his home in Sundance, Utah. In May 2011, Robert Redford: The Biography was published by Alfred A. Knopf, written by Michael Feeney Callan with Redford's cooperation, drawing extensively from his personal papers, diaries and taped interviews.

Although Redford primarily resided at the Sundance Resort in Utah, he owned a house in Tiburon, California, which was sold in 2024. He also had a property in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

On September 16, 2025, Redford died in his sleep at his home in Sundance, Utah, at age 89. Several of Redford's co-stars paid tribute to him, including frequent collaborator Jane Fonda, who wrote, "He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way. He stood for an America that we have to keep fighting for." His Out of Africa co-star Meryl Streep wrote, "One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace, my lovely friend." His The Way We Were co-star Barbra Streisand released a lengthy statement, which read in part, "Bob was charismatic, intelligent, intense, always interesting—and one of the finest actors ever." His All the President's Men co-star Dustin Hoffman paid tribute to Redford, writing, "Working with Redford...was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had...I'll miss him". Journalist Bob Woodward, whom Redford portrayed in All the President's Men, also paid tribute calling Redford a close friend and a "principled force for good".

Others who commented on Redford's death include politicians such as former U.S. president Barack Obama, the former First Lady Hillary Clinton and former vice president Al Gore. Numerous prominent figures from the entertainment industry paid tribute to Redford, including filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard and actors such as Morgan Freeman, Tom Green, Kim Basinger, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Reese Witherspoon, Edward Norton, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Ethan Hawke and Antonio Banderas.

Redford was laid to rest on his property in Sundance following a private funeral.