Legendary actor, Academy Award-winning director and producer, and activist Robert Redford has died at 89 at his home in the mountains outside of Provo, Utah.
Cause of Death Remains Unknown
The news was confirmed in a statement by Cindi Berger, chief executive of publicity firm Rogers & Cowan PMK. Per Berger’s statement, Redford died in his sleep in “the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved.” A cause of death was not specified.
Redford Was One of Hollywood’s Most Famous Faces
Redford spent decades at the top of Hollywood’s A-list, starring in a vast number of classic films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969); The Sting (1973); and All the President’s Men (1976). For The Sting, Redford received his only Academy Award nomination for acting. Though he never won in that category, Redford won the Oscar for Best Director for Ordinary People (1980). He was nominated twice more, in the directing and Best Picture (as producer) categories for Quiz Show (1995). He also received an Honorary Academy Award in 2002.
More recently, Redford earned rave reviews for his performances in All Is Lost (2013); Truth (2015), in which he played journalist Dan Rather; Our Souls at Night (2017); and David Lowery’s The Old Man & the Gun (2018), which he also produced. Lowery’s film marked Redford’s final starring role, though his last on-screen appearance was in Avengers: Endgame (2019). His final role was in Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia (2020), for which he provided the voice of Lokia the Dolphin Monster.
He Was Well Known Outside of Acting
Redford was also a producer who put his weight behind establishing many of this generation’s most celebrated filmmakers, such as Steven Soderbergh, Jim Jarmusch, and the Coen Brothers. In 1978, Redford established the Sundance Film Festival, which continues to this day. After Soderbergh broke out following the debut of his sex, lies, and videotape at Sundance in 1989, the festival became known as a furtive breeding ground for young, talented filmmakers.
Always a reluctant celebrity, Redford moved to Utah in his later years, where he became an environmental and community activist while continuing to appear in mainstream Hollywood fare. Redford told his biographer, Michael Feeney Callan, that although his career was at times controversial, “it was authentic.” “I got my way,” Redford said.
