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Actor-turned-director and activist Robert Redford, one of Hollywood’s most well-known leading men and an influential supporter of independent film, has died at the age of 89.
His publicist Cindi Berger confirmed the death to CBC News on Tuesday, saying he passed away in his home in Sundance in the mountains of Utah, “the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved.”
Redford used the millions he made to launch the Sundance Institute and Festival in the 1970s, promoting independent filmmaking long before small and quirky were fashionable.
“Robert Redford was the golden boy,” said Sean P. Means, deputy editor at the Salt Lake Tribune, who formerly served as the paper’s film critic for 25 years.
Whether Redford was portraying the wealthiest among us in The Great Gatsby, making hearts race in romantic roles like Out Of Africa, or playing an outlaw in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Means says he had the “stunning good looks that [let him] fit in to society’s spaces equally well.”
Baseball player, then painter, then actor
Born in the Los Angeles beach city of Santa Monica on Aug. 18, 1936, to what he described as a “lower working class family,” Redford landed a college baseball scholarship but lost it after spending too much time partying.
Deciding he wanted to be an artist, Redford moved to Europe, spending time in France and Italy trying to sell his paintings on the street. Moving back to the U.S., he enrolled in drama school to try his hand at theatrical set design. Michael Feeney Callan, Redford’s biographer and friend, told CBC News Network that Redford was initially skeptical of a career in front of the camera.
“The idea of being an actor had never been in his game plan,” Callan said. “By osmosis, celebrity happened to him.”
But he was persuaded to take to the stage, and by 1959, he was a full-time performer on Broadway and later found work on television.
Redford made his movie debut in 1962 in a low-budget film called Warhunt, but first won attention in Barefoot in the Park, opposite Jane Fonda.
Redford remained best known for the two early movies he made with Paul Newman: the 1969 western caper Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, both of which became classics.
He never won the best actor Oscar, but Redford’s first outing as a director — the 1980 family drama Ordinary People — won for best picture and best director.
From the 1980s, he devoted more time to producing films and to the establishment of the Sundance Institute — a year-round workshop for aspiring filmmakers — and the Sundance Festival, which has become one of the most influential independent film showcases in the world.
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Actor, director, and activist Robert Redford, known for roles in movies such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men, has died at the age of 89. His publicist, Cindi Berger, confirmed the death to CBC News on Tuesday, saying he passed away at his home in Sundance in the mountains of Utah, ‘the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved.’ (Adam Rountree/The Associated Press)
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Sep 17, 2025 @ 09:45:56
What a beautifully written tribute to a towering figure of cinema. 🌟
Robert Redford’s journey — from a baseball hopeful and painter to one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors, and then a visionary champion for independent film — feels like the story of someone who never stopped evolving.
Your piece captures not only his legendary performances in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and Out of Africa, but also the quieter, profound part of his legacy: the way he used his success to nurture new voices through the Sundance Institute and Festival. That generosity has shaped generations of filmmakers and storytellers.
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Sep 17, 2025 @ 11:49:24
Thank you sir warm comments!
Robert Redford was certainly a great contributer to cinema.
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