The late, great Robert Redford died after carrying an ‘intense sadness’ over his son’s death, it has been revealed.
According to his former neighbours in the town of Tiburon, California, Redford, who died at his home in Sundance, Utah, aged 89 on Tuesday, was struggling with the death of his beloved son, James Redford, in his final years.
A devoted father of four, Redford shared Scott Anthony, Shauna Jean, David James, and Amy Hart with his ex-wife, Lola Van Wagenen. Their first son, two-month-old Scott, died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in 1959. Later, in 2020, it was confirmed that their youngest son, known as Jamie, had also died from bile-duct cancer in his liver, aged 58.
Redford – who is survived by his second wife, Sibylle Szaggars, daughters, Shauna and Amy, and seven grandchildren – was left heartbroken by his youngest son’s recent death, according to local reports.
A waiter at a bayside restaurant near his home said: ‘He was one of my best customers and he came weekly. Bob, as we called him, would sit at the same round table every week with his wife and friends, and he was incredibly gracious.’
‘He talked to the staff and was personable, he asked questions and was interested in everyone. But there was an intense sadness to him after his son died a few years ago,’ they said while speaking with the Daily Mail.
‘Bob talked about how much he missed his son,’ the waiter mused. ‘It was a heartbreaking thing for him. He felt like a part of him had been lost, it was hard for him to live without his boy. It took a toll on him to see his son die like that.’
Another resident recalled Redford’s love of hiking on Tiburon’s trails, adding: ‘He liked to walk around Tiburon and would say hello and wave to locals. He always had a cap and sunglasses on, but everyone knew it was Robert Redford.’
Prior to his own death, Redford had spoken about the ‘traumatic’ death of his eldest son, Scott, in a 2017 interview with Esquire UK.
‘I was only 21; my wife was 20. We were just starting our lives; I was just starting my career in New York. Of course, it was traumatic, and how that plays out over time, I don’t know,’ he said.
‘We had to deal with it. You have to move on. And we had other children who came. But something like that doesn’t get completely dismissed. It probably shows up in various small ways you’re not even aware of. I’m sure there’s a lot of this stuff that’s subconscious. But it’s pretty traumatic when it happens, particularly when you’re that young. You’re not equipped to deal with it.’
Following Jamie’s subsequent death in 2020, a representative for Robert shared the actor’s wish for privacy with People, stating: ‘The grief is immeasurable with the loss of a child. Jamie was a loving son, husband and father. His legacy lives on through his children, art, filmmaking and devoted passion to conservation and the environment.’
Revered as a Hollywood great, Redford shot to fame after appearing in classic films, including Barefoot in the Park, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Jeremiah Johnson, The Candidate, and The Sting.
He won an honorary Oscar in 2002, and was also renowned for his activism involving environmentalism, Native American and LGBTQ+ rights and the arts.
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