A leading man who built an institution and broadened American soft power

Robert Redford, the quintessential American movie star who evolved into an Academy Award-winning director and the driving force behind the Sundance Institute, died Tuesday at 89. His publicist said Redford passed at his home at Sundance in Utah, surrounded by loved ones, with no cause of death disclosed. Redford transcended matinee-idol fame by championing independent voices and building a platform that helped American storytelling compete and thrive on the world stage.

From golden boy to craftsman

Redford dominated the 1970s with The Candidate, The Way We Were and All the President’s Men, then capped the era by winning best director for 1980’s Ordinary People. His screen partnership with Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting became legendary, with The Sting earning Redford a best actor nomination. He remained selective but potent in later years, starring in Out of Africa, delivering a near-solo tour de force in All Is Lost, and bidding an elegant farewell with The Old Man and the Gun.

Sundance and the American creative economy

Frustrated by Hollywood’s risk aversion, Redford founded Sundance to give filmmakers room to innovate. The festival and institute nurtured careers for Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Paul Thomas Anderson and Darren Aronofsky, among others. He called the mission simple and enduring: independence. By 2025, Sundance’s reach was so significant that organizers approved relocating the festival to Boulder, Colorado, beginning in 2027 to expand capacity and access. The result is a durable pipeline for American talent that projects cultural confidence abroad and reinforces the nation’s leadership among its Western allies.

A public voice and a private outdoorsman

Redford’s reverence for the outdoors shaped A River Runs Through It and a lifetime of environmental advocacy, from lobbying for the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act to serving on the board of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He also used his art to examine civic life, satirizing campaigning in The Candidate and chronicling press accountability as Bob Woodward in All the President’s Men. Even when engaging political themes, he favored reflection over rancor, a restraint that deepened his mainstream appeal.

Life, legacy and national character

Born Aug. 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, Redford attended college on a baseball scholarship before studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He broke through on Broadway, then on television in The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Untouchables. He was married twice, most recently to Sibylle Szaggars, and had four children, two of whom preceded him in death, including James Redford in 2020. Redford’s career fused rugged individualism with civic curiosity, leaving behind a vibrant institution and a body of work that strengthened America’s cultural standing and the stability that comes with it.