Featured Image Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty
Topics: Hollywood, Film and TV, Celebrity
Callum Jones
Topics: Hollywood, Film and TV, Celebrity
Robert Redford has died at the age of 89, his publicist has confirmed.
The Hollywood legend was best known for his various roles in the 1960s and 1970s, making a name for himself for classics such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men.
Redford, who was known for his activism, as well as his dashing good looks, also directed films such as Ordinary People, for which he won an Oscar, and A River Runs Through It.
He also founded the Sundance Film Festival, which has taken place annually in Utah in the US since 1978.
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Cindi Berger, Redford's publicist, confirmed the actor died in his home 'in the mountains of Utah - the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved. He will be missed greatly. The family requests privacy'.
"He will be missed greatly," the statement added.
The Sundance Film Festival is what Redford was seemingly most proud of in his more recent years.
It helped kickstart the career of budding storytellers across the US.
"I saw other stories out there that weren’t having a chance to be told and I thought, ‘Well, maybe I can commit my energies to giving those people a chance,’" Redford said in 2018.
"As I look back on it, I feel very good about that."
Redford last role in Hollywood came in 2018 in the form of The Old Man & the Gun, which brought an end to his impressive career.
"I just figure that I’ve had a long career that I’m very pleased with. It’s been so long, ever since I was 21. I figure now as I’m getting into my 80s, it’s maybe time to move toward retirement and spend more time with my wife and family," the Hollywood star told the Associated Press before the movie came out.
In 2016, former US President Barack Obama awarded Redford the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
"His art and activism continue to shape our nation's cultural heritage, inspiring millions to laugh, cry, think, and change," the citation read.
Tributes have been pouring in for Redford online, with one person penning on X: "Robert Redford was my favorite, it’s hard to process that he is gone. His performances made more movies I love than anyone else, I’d take The Sting over any film for flawless perfection. We don’t expect famous people to also be good people but he was. He belongs to the ages."
While a second added: "RIP Robert Redford. Terrific actor, brilliant director. Truly legendary."
Redford is survived by his wife, Sibylle Szaggars, and his two children, Shauna Jean Redford and Amy Hart Redford, from his previous marriage to Lola Van Wagenen.