Robert Redford – OBITUARY

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Robert Redford, a classic actor from the late 1960s and 70s, became famous for his roles on screen. He later achieved success as a director, winning an Academy Award, and even appeared in a Marvel movie, proving his lasting impact on Hollywood.

Born on August 18, 1936, in Los Angeles, Charles Robert Redford Jr. had a somewhat turbulent youth, being expelled from the University of Colorado due to alcohol. After a difficult period marked by his mother’s early death at age 40 and various jobs, he found himself in Florence studying art. He eventually returned to the US and pursued set design in New York before discovering his passion for acting. He married producer Lola Van Wagenen in 1958 and began building his career with small roles in television and on stage. A breakthrough came with the 1962 film *The Voice of Charlie Pont*, earning him an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor, which led to the lead role in the Broadway hit *Barefoot in the Park* (and the subsequent film adaptation in 1967). His performance as a bisexual movie star in *Inside Daisy Clover* (1965) garnered him a Golden Globe nomination. These roles paved the way for a string of successful films, culminating in his international stardom opposite Paul Newman in *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid*, which received seven Oscar nominations. Redford and Newman remained close friends until Newman’s death in 2008.

Robert Redford was drawn to the film ‘Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here’ because of its progressive themes, and it marked the start of a successful decade for him. He starred in a series of popular movies in the 1970s, including ‘The Way We Were’ (1973), ‘The Sting’ (reuniting him with Paul Newman), ‘The Great Gatsby’ (1974), ‘Three Days of the Condor’ (1975), and the acclaimed ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976) alongside Dustin Hoffman. Afterwards, Redford acted a bit less, focusing instead on creating the Sundance Film Festival. He used his earnings to purchase a ski resort in Utah – his wife Lola’s home state – and renamed it Sundance, after one of his famous roles. This festival was his way of supporting independent filmmakers, and over the years, it launched the careers of many influential directors, including Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, and Kevin Smith, becoming increasingly important with each passing decade by providing a platform for films to reach a wider audience.

He soon found himself interested in directing, and in 1981, he directed his first movie, *Ordinary People*. The film was a major success, winning four Academy Awards, including the Best Director award for him.

Throughout the 1980s, he appeared in a few memorable films, including the Academy Award-nominated *Out of Africa* with Meryl Streep, and the comedy *Legal Eagles*. He returned to directing in 1988 with *The Milagro Beanfield War*. The decade was also marked by personal hardship; he divorced his first wife after having four children together, one of whom died in infancy. More recently, in 2020, his son David passed away in his fifties after a long battle with bile duct cancer. David had been ill since birth and had undergone two liver transplants.

In the early 1990s, he appeared in more mainstream movies, including the critically acclaimed but often overlooked thriller ‘Sneakers’ and the popular ‘Indecent Proposal.’ The latter film featured a memorable premise: his character offered Woody Harrelson a million dollars to spend the night with Demi Moore’s character, and it proved to be a major box office success.

He continued to direct films after his first, including titles like Quiz Show, The Horse Whisperer, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and Lions for Lambs, though none achieved the same success. By 2009, he had married artist Sibylle Szaggers, becoming a second-time husband.

Despite only receiving one Oscar nomination for his role in *The Sting*, he was highly celebrated throughout his career. He received an honorary Oscar in 2002, a lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival in 2017, and an Honorary Cesar in 2019. These accolades joined the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which Barack Obama awarded him in 2016.

Many fans were surprised to see him appear in the Marvel movies ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ and even make a cameo in ‘Avengers: Endgame’. His last film role was in the 2018 movie ‘The Old Man and the Gun’, a fittingly mellow film to conclude his career as a leading actor.

Robert Redford died on 16th September 2025 aged 89.

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2025-09-17 02:24