Charles Robert Redford Jr. (August 18, 1936 – September 16, 2025) was an American actor, director, and producer. He was well-known for his strong presence as a leading man during the American New Wave movement. Over a career lasting more than 60 years, Redford received many awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards (including a Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994). He also earned honors such as the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1996, the Academy Honorary Award in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2005, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, and the Honorary César in 2019.
Redford began his career on television in the late 1950s, appearing in shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone. He made his first appearance on Broadway in Neil Simon’s comedy Barefoot in the Park (1963) before acting in films such as War Hunt (1962) and Inside Daisy Clover (1965). He became a famous movie star with films like Barefoot in the Park (1967), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Downhill Racer (1969), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Candidate (1972), and The Sting (1973), which earned him an Academy Award nomination.
He continued to be a well-known actor in films such as The Way We Were (1973), The Great Gatsby (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), All the President's Men (1976), The Electric Horseman (1979), The Natural (1984), and Out of Africa (1985). Later films included Sneakers (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993), An Unfinished Life (2005), All Is Lost (2013), Truth (2015), Our Souls at Night (2017), and The Old Man & the Gun (2018). He also played Alexander Pierce in the MCU films Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), with the latter being his final on-screen role.
Redford made his directorial debut with the family drama Ordinary People (1980), which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. His later directing work included The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992), Quiz Show (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998), and The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000). A strong supporter of independent films, Redford helped start the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival in 1978, which encouraged new filmmakers. Outside of his artistic work, he was known for his efforts to protect the environment, support for Native American and Indigenous rights, and advocacy for LGBTQ equality.
Early life and education
Charles Robert Redford Jr. was born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California. His mother was Martha Woodruff Redford (née Hart), who was born in Austin, Texas, and his father was Charles Robert Redford Sr., an accountant. Redford had a half-brother on his father’s side named William. He was of Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry. His great-great-grandfather on his father’s side, Elisha Redford, was a Protestant Englishman who married Mary Ann McCreery, who had Irish Catholic heritage. They lived in Manchester, Lancashire, and moved to New York City in 1849. They later settled in Stonington, Connecticut, where they had a son named Charles, the first in their family to be given that name. On his mother’s side, the Harts were from Galway, Ireland, and the Greens were Scotch-Irish who moved to the United States in the 1700s. Redford’s family lived in Van Nuys while his father worked in El Segundo. As a child, he often visited Austin, Texas, to see his maternal grandfather. He said his love for nature and environmentalism began during his childhood in Texas.
Redford attended Van Nuys High School, where he was a classmate of Don Drysdale, a future professional baseball pitcher. He said he was not a good student and found more interest in art and sports outside of school. He practiced hitting tennis balls with Pancho Gonzalez at the Los Angeles Tennis Club to help Gonzalez prepare for matches. Redford had a mild case of polio when he was 11 years old.
After graduating from high school in 1954, Redford attended the University of Colorado in Boulder for one and a half years. He was part of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. While there, he worked at a restaurant and bar called The Sink, where a painting of him is now displayed as part of the bar’s murals. During his time at the university, Redford drank heavily, which caused him to lose part of his scholarship and be expelled from school. After leaving school, he traveled in Europe, living in France, Spain, and Italy. Later, he studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and took classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan, New York, graduating in 1959.
Career
Redford's acting career began in New York City, where he worked on stage and in television. His first role on Broadway was in a small part in Tall Story (1959), followed by parts in The Highest Tree (1959) and Sunday in New York (1961). His most successful role on Broadway was as the formal new husband of Elizabeth Ashley in the original 1963 cast of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. Starting in 1960, Redford appeared as a guest star on many television drama programs, including Naked City, Maverick, The Untouchables, The Americans, Whispering Smith, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Route 66, Dr. Kildare, Playhouse 90, Tate, The Twilight Zone, The Virginian, and Captain Brassbound's Conversion, among others.
Redford made his film debut in the movie version of Tall Story (1960), repeating his Broadway role, though he was not credited. The film's stars were Anthony Perkins, Jane Fonda, and Ray Walston. After his Broadway success, he got bigger roles in movies. In 1960, Redford played Danny Tilford, a troubled young man trapped in his family's garage, in "Breakdown," one of the last episodes of the syndicated adventure series Rescue 8, starring Jim Davis and Lang Jeffries. Redford earned an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Voice of Charlie Pont (ABC, 1962). One of his last television appearances until 2019 was on October 7, 1963, in Breaking Point, an ABC medical drama about psychiatry.
In 1962, Redford received his second film role in War Hunt, and soon after, he acted alongside screen legend Alec Guinness in the war comedy Situation Hopeless… But Not Serious, where he played a U.S. soldier falsely imprisoned by a German civilian after the war ended. In Inside Daisy Clover (1965), which won him a Golden Globe for best new star, he played a bisexual movie star who married Natalie Wood and later appeared with her again in This Property Is Condemned (1966), also as her lover. The same year, he acted with Jane Fonda in The Chase, the only film where Redford starred with Marlon Brando.
Fonda and Redford acted together again in the popular movie version of Barefoot in the Park (1967) and later in The Electric Horseman (1979), followed by a Netflix film, Our Souls at Night. After this success, Redford worried about being seen as a blond male stereotype and turned down roles in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate. He found his niche in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), where he first acted with Paul Newman. The film was a huge success and made him a major star, known for being smart, dependable, and sometimes sarcastic.
Although Redford did not win an Academy Award or Golden Globe for playing the Sundance Kid, he won a British Academy of Film and Television Award (BAFTA) for that role and his parts in Downhill Racer (1969) and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969). The latter two films and Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970) and The Hot Rock (1972) were not commercially successful. Redford had long wanted to work on both sides of the camera. As early as 1969, he served as the executive producer for Downhill Racer. The political satire The Candidate (1972) was a moderate box-office and critical success.
From 1973 to 1976, Redford had four years of box-office successes. The western Jeremiah Johnson (1972) earned a lot of money from 1973 until its second re-release in 1975, which would have made it the second-highest-grossing film of 1973. His romantic period drama with Barbra Streisand, The Way We Were (1973), was the fifth-highest-grossing film of 1973. The crime caper The Sting (1973), a reunion with Paul Newman, became the top-grossing film of 1974 and one of the top-twenty highest-grossing movies of all time when adjusted for inflation. It also gave Redford his only Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. The next year, he starred in the romantic drama The Great Gatsby (1974), also with Mia Farrow, Sam Waterston, and Bruce Dern. The film was the eighth-highest-grossing film of 1974. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) was the tenth-highest-grossing film of 1974, as it was re-released due to the popularity of The Sting. In 1974, Redford became the first performer since Bing Crosby in 1946 to have three films in a year's top-ten-grossing titles. Each year between 1974 and 1976, movie exhibitors voted Redford as Hollywood's top box-office star.
In 1975, Redford's hit movies included a 1920s aviation drama, The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), and the spy thriller Three Days of the Condor (1975), with Faye Dunaway. These films finished 16th and 17th in box-office grosses for 1975, respectively. In 1976, he co-starred with Dustin Hoffman in All the President's Men, the second-highest-grossing film of the year. In 1976, Redford published The Outlaw Trail: A Journey Through Time. He said, "The Outlaw Trail. It was a name that fascinated me—a geographical anchor in Western folklore. Whether real or imagined, it was a name that, for me, held a kind of magic, a freedom, a mystery. I wanted to see it in much the same way as the outlaws did, by horse and by foot and document the adventure with text and photographs."
All the President's Men, in which Redford and Hoffman played Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, was a landmark film for Redford. Not only was he the executive producer and co-star, but the film's serious subject—the Watergate scandal—and its realistic portrayal of journalism reflected his offscreen interest in political causes. The film received eight Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Director (Alan J. Pakula), and won for Best Screenplay (Goldman). It also won the New York Film Critics Award for Best Picture and Best Director. In 1977, Redford appeared in a segment of the war film A Bridge Too Far (1977). He took a two-year break from movies before starring as a past-his-prime rodeo star in the adventure-romance The Electric Horseman (1979). This film
Filmography and accolades
Robert Redford won the 1980 Academy Award for Best Director for his first movie, Ordinary People. In 2002, he received an Academy Honorary Award at the 74th Academy Awards. In 2017, he was given the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 74th Venice Film Festival. On February 22, 2019, Redford received the Honorary César at the 44th César Awards in Paris.
Redford studied at the University of Colorado in the 1950s and was given an honorary degree in 1988. In 1989, the National Audubon Society gave him its highest honor, the Audubon Medal. In 1995, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Bard College. In 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Brown University. In 2010, he received the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. In 2014, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In May 2015, he gave a speech at Colby College in Maine and received an honorary degree there.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton awarded Redford the National Medal of Arts. On October 14, 2010, President Nicolas Sarkozy appointed him chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. On November 22, 2016, President Barack Obama honored Redford with a Presidential Medal of Freedom. In December 2005, he was recognized with the Kennedy Center Honors for his contributions to American culture through the performing arts.
In 2008, Redford received The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, which is one of the richest prizes in the arts. It is given to someone who has made a significant contribution to making the world more beautiful and helping people understand life better. In 2009, the University of Southern California (USC) School of Dramatic Arts created the Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists. This award honors people who are known for their excellent work and for their efforts to raise awareness about global issues and inspire young people.
Other ventures
Robert Redford used the money he earned from acting in movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Downhill Racer to buy a ski area on the east side of Mount Timpanogos in the Wasatch Mountains, near Provo, Utah. He renamed the area "Sundance" after his character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Redford’s ex-wife, Lola, was from Utah, and the couple had built a home in the area in 1963. Parts of the movie Jeremiah Johnson (1972), which Redford greatly admired, were filmed near the ski area. Redford later created the Sundance Film Festival, which became the largest festival in the United States for independent films. The festival was first called the Utah/US Festival but was later renamed after Redford’s "Sundance" land. In 2008, the Sundance Film Festival showed 125 full-length films from 34 countries, with more than 50,000 people attending in Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah. Redford also started the Sundance Institute, Sundance Cinemas, Sundance Catalog, and the Sundance Channel, all located in and around Park City, 30 miles (48 km) north of the Sundance ski area. He also owned a restaurant in Park City called Zoom, which closed in May 2017.
Redford was a co-owner of Wildwood Enterprises, Inc., with Bill Holderman, a producer. The company was involved in making films such as Lions for Lambs, Quiz Show, A River Runs Through It, Ordinary People, The Horse Whisperer, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Slums of Beverly Hills, The Motorcycle Diaries, and The Conspirator.
Redford was the president and co-founder of Sundance Productions, along with Laura Michalchyshyn. Sundance Productions created shows like Chicagoland (for CNN), Cathedrals of Culture (for the Berlin Film Festival), The March (for PBS), and All The President's Men Revisited (for Discovery), which was nominated for an Emmy. The company also produced Green Porno Live! and To Russia With Love for Epix.
After founding the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization in Park City, Utah, in 1981, Redford worked closely with independent filmmakers. Through its workshops and the Sundance Film Festival, the institute helped support filmmakers who create movies outside of major studios. In 1995, Redford made an agreement with Showtime to launch a 24-hour cable channel that would air independent films. The Sundance Channel began broadcasting on February 29, 1996.
Personal life
On August 9, 1958, Redford married Lola Van Wagenen in Las Vegas. The couple had four children: Scott Anthony, Shauna Jean, David James, and Amy Hart. Scott died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) at the age of 2½ months. Shauna is a painter and married to journalist Eric Schlosser. David was a writer and producer who died of cancer in 2020. Amy is an actress, director, and producer. Redford had seven grandchildren.
Redford and Van Wagenen never publicly announced a separation or divorce. However, in 1982, entertainment columnist Shirley Eder reported that the pair "have been very much apart for a number of years." Redford was negotiating their divorce settlement while filming Out of Africa in 1984. In 1991, Parade magazine said, "it is unclear whether the divorce has been finalized."
On July 11, 2009, Redford and his longtime girlfriend, Sibylle Szaggars, married at the Louis C. Jacob Hotel in Hamburg, Germany. She had moved in with Redford in 1996 and shared his home in Sundance, Utah. In May 2011, Robert Redford: The Biography was published by Alfred A. Knopf, written by Michael Feeney Callan with Redford's cooperation, drawing extensively from his personal papers, diaries, and taped interviews.
Although Redford primarily lived at the Sundance Resort in Utah, he owned a house in Tiburon, California, which was sold in 2024. He also had a property in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Redford supported environmentalism, Native American rights, LGBT rights, and the arts. He was a supporter of advocacy groups like the Political Action Committee of the Directors Guild of America. He was the executive producer and narrator of the documentary film Incident at Oglala, about American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier.
Redford supported Brent Cornell Morris in his unsuccessful campaign for the Republican nomination for Utah's 3rd congressional district in 1990. Redford also supported Gary Herbert, another Republican and a friend, in Herbert's successful 2004 campaign to be elected lieutenant governor of Utah. Herbert later became governor of Utah.
As an avid environmentalist, Redford was a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He also served as vice president for The Way of the Rain, a group that raises awareness about environmental issues through artistic performances, for which Sibylle Szaggars Redford is founder and president. He endorsed Democratic president Barack Obama for re-election in 2012. Redford was the first quote on the back cover of Donald Trump's book Crippled America (2015), saying of Trump's candidacy, "I'm glad he's in there, being the way he is and saying what he says and the ways he says it, I think shakes things up and I think that is very needed." A representative later clarified that Redford's statement, taken from a longer conversation with Larry King, was not intended to endorse Trump for president.
In 2019, Redford wrote an op-ed in which he referred to Trump's administration as a "monarchy in disguise" and stated, "[i]t's time for Trump to go." Redford later co-authored another op-ed in which he criticized Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic while also citing the collective public response to the pandemic as a model for how to respond to climate change. He criticized the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. In July 2020, Redford wrote an op-ed in which he stated that President Trump lacks a "moral compass." In the same piece, he announced that he would be supporting Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
Redford was opposed to the TransCanada Corporation's Keystone Pipeline. In 2013, he was identified by its CEO, Russ Girling, for leading the anti-pipeline protest movement. In April 2014, Redford, a Pitzer College Trustee, and Pitzer College President Laura Skandera Trombley announced that the college would divest fossil fuel stocks from its endowment; at the time, it was the higher-education institution with the largest endowment in the U.S. to make this commitment. The press conference was held at the LA Press Club. In November 2012, Pitzer launched the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability at Pitzer College.
On September 16, 2025, Redford died in his sleep at his home in Sundance, Utah, at the age of 89. Several of Redford's co-stars paid tribute to him, including frequent collaborator Jane Fonda, who wrote, "He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way. He stood for an America that we have to keep fighting for." Fonda later added: "I was always in love with him. The most gorgeous human being and such great values. And he did a lot for movies, he really changed movies, lifted up independent movies." His Out of Africa co-star Meryl Streep wrote, "One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace, my lovely friend." His The Way We Were co-star Barbra Streisand released a lengthy statement, which read in part, "Bob was charismatic, intelligent, intense, always interesting—and one of the finest actors ever." Streisand later appeared at the 98th Academy Awards to talk about her positive memory of working with him. His All the President's Men co-star Dustin Hoffman paid tribute to Redford, writing, "Working with Redford…was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had…I'll miss him."
Journalist Bob Woodward, whom Redford portrayed in All the President's Men, also paid tribute, calling Redford a close friend and a "principled force for good." Others who commented on Redford's death include politicians such as incumbent U.S. president Donald Trump, former U.S. president Barack Obama, former First
Legacy and reception
During his career, Redford was often described as a sex symbol, especially in the 1970s. The BBC News said his appearance had "all-American good looks [that] couldn't be ignored." The Associated Press noted that Redford's "wavy blond hair and friendly smile made him the most desired of leading men" during his most successful years. However, Redford himself did not accept the idea of being a sex symbol. In a 1974 interview with The New York Times, he said, "I never thought of myself as a glamorous or handsome person. Suddenly, there's this image…Glamour can be a real problem. It is nonsense."
After Redford's death, Variety wrote that he "became an important figure in independent film as the founder of the Sundance Film Institute," that "as a movie star in his prime, few could match him," and that "in the 1970s, few actors had Redford's level of fame." The Guardian described Redford as "a giant of American cinema" and "one of the defining movie stars of the 1970s, moving easily between the Hollywood New Wave and mainstream films." The Los Angeles Times remembered him as a "generational icon." In France, Culture Minister Rachida Dati called him "a giant of American cinema." As the founder of the Sundance Film Festival, he was often called a "godfather of independent cinema."
The New York Times said Redford's films often showed serious topics like corruption and grief that "resonated with the public," as he wanted his films to carry "cultural importance." He was called one of "few truly iconic screen figures of the past half-century" and "Hollywood's Golden Boy" by The Hollywood Reporter. Filmmaker Ron Howard praised Redford, calling him "a tremendously influential cultural figure" and an "artistic gamechanger." His creation of the Sundance Film Festival was credited with "helping independent filmmaking grow." After he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, The Salt Lake Tribune said Redford's Sundance Film Festival was "a catalyst for an explosion of independent films."
Time magazine noted Redford's environmental work, calling him "very committed to pushing for a world that was safe and livable for all" and mentioning that the Redford Foundation supported environmentally friendly filmmaking. His focus on the environment led Fox News to remember him as a "Hollywood icon" who "committed himself to being a responsible caretaker of the environment and a supporter of the American Southwest." In 2016, President Barack Obama called Redford "one of the foremost conservationists of our generation."