Hollywood is mourning the loss of Robert Redford, a once-in-a-generation talent whose career spanned more than six decades both in front of and behind the camera. The heartthrob who became an Oscar-winning director, a tireless champion of independent film, and the visionary founder of the Sundance Film Festival passed away at the age of 89. Peaceful Passing in Utah. Redford died peacefully in his sleep early Tuesday at his home in the Utah mountains near Provo, according to his publicist, Cindi Berger.
No cause of death has been disclosed. Born on August 18, 1936, Redford built a legacy few could match—yet his life and work were shaped as much by personal loss as by dazzling success. Early Struggles and a Singular Believer. As a child, Redford battled polio. By his own admission, he was a “bad student” in his teens. After heavy drinking caused him to lose a scholarship at the University of Colorado Boulder, he took a janitor’s job at the city’s landmark restaurant, The Sink—a place he never forgot. He even wore a shirt with the restaurant’s logo at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival as a quiet tribute to his roots. Throughout those uncertain years, one person remained his steadfast supporter.
“The one person who stood behind me was my mother,” he said of Martha Hart, who died at just 40 from complications of a rare blood disorder. Redford was only 18 at the time and later expressed a lifelong regret that he never had the chance to say “thank you” before she passed.
Three years after his mother’s death, Redford married historian Lola Van Wagenen, whom he credited with helping him find stability. The couple married young and had four children. Their joy was deeply affected by tragedy when their firstborn, Scott, died at two and a half months from SIDS. “As a parent, you tend to blame yourself,” Redford once said. “That creates a scar that probably never completely heals.”
Decades later, he endured another devastating loss. Their son James “Jamie” Redford—an accomplished filmmaker and environmental advocate—faced lifelong health challenges and underwent two liver transplants in 1993. Jamie died in October 2020 at age 58 from bile-duct cancer. “The grief is immeasurable with the loss of a child,” a family representative said at the time. Redford himself acknowledged that, despite all his professional success, the hardest moments were those at home: “The hardest thing is when your children have problems. There have been so many hits on our family no one knows about.”
Despite his personal struggles, Redford never stopped creating. He became one of cinema’s most enduring stars, later transforming his career as a director—winning the Academy Award for Ordinary People—and as a founder of vital institutions. He established the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, nurturing generations of independent filmmakers who might otherwise have gone unseen. His activism—especially on environmental issues—was a consistent thread throughout his life, influencing the stories he told and the causes he supported.
Redford’s legacy goes far beyond box-office success and famous roles. He redefined what Hollywood stardom could achieve by investing prestige and resources in new voices, fresh visions, and diverse ways of seeing America. Reports say he is survived by his wife, his daughters Shauna Schlosser Redford and Amy Redford, and seven grandchildren.
In the end, resilience was at the heart of everything: the boy who struggled in school, the artist who refused to coast, the father who endured unimaginable losses yet remained focused on his purpose. Robert Redford’s life—both on-screen and off—reshaped how stories are told and who gets to tell them. May he rest in peace.