Award-winning actor, director, and producer Robert Redford has died at the age of 89. Redford was not just one of the most respected figures in Hollywood, but his work helped to define the art of cinema for two generations. The awards he has won would fill a room, and include not only Oscards, but several foreign awards including the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) the French Cesar Award, and the Italian David di Donatello Award..

In 1981, Redford founded the Sundance Institute, a non-profit organization “dedicated to fostering new voices in American storytelling and championing independent stories for the screen.”

The Sundance Institute issued the following statement:

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our founder and friend Robert Redford. Bob’s vision of a space and a platform for independent voices launched a movement that, over four decades later, has inspired generations of artists and redefined cinema in the U.S. and around the world,” the non-profit shared on Tuesday.

“Beyond his enormous contributions to culture at large, we will miss his generosity, clarity of purpose, curiosity, rebellious spirit and his love for the creative process,” the organization continued. “We are humbled to be among the stewards of his remarkable legacy, which will continue to guide the Institute in perpetuity.”

Charles Robert Redford, Jr. was born in Santa Monica, California on Aug. 18, 1936. Redford passed away in his sleep at his home in Utah, near Sundance, on September 16, 2025. Cindi Berger, the chief executive of the publicity firm Rogers and Cowan PMK, said that ‘Redford died in “the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved” and stated that he “will be missed greatly.’ “

Robert Redford was best known for such films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1069), All the President’s Men (1976), and The Sting (1973). Redford also appeared in the MCU.as Alexander Pierce.

Robert Redford was a registered Democrat and deeply involved in liberal political causes. Like Mark Hamill, he felt it was important for stars to use their celebrity to help the causes they believed in. In the Seventies, Redford considered running for senator to represent the people of Utah,.Had he left moviemaking for a career in government service, the American political ascene might look very different today.

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Horror Roles

Although Robert Redford was best known for films like The Natural (1984) and Barefoot in the Park (1967), he axctually had a respectable amount of Geek Cred,

• Charlie Marx in The Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode “The Right Kind of Medicine”
• Harold Beldon in the Twilight Zone episode “Something in the Dark“
• David Chesterman in the Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode “A Tangled Web”
• Chuck Marsden in the Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode “A Piece of the Action”
• Martin Brice in Sneakers (1992)
• director, The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
• voice of Ike the Horse in Charlotte’s Web (2006)
• Alexander Pierce in Captain America: the Winter Soldier (2014)
• Mr. Meacham in Pete’s Dragon (2016)
• narrator, Buttons: A Christmas Tale (2018)

Awards and Honors

• 1963, Nominee, Primetime Emmy, Best Performance in a Supporting Tole, Alcoa Premiere
• 1966, Nominee, Golden Laurel Award, New Faces, Male,
• 1968, Nominee, Golden Laurel Award, Best Comedy Performance, Barefoot in the Park
• 1969, Nominee, NYFCC Award, (New York City Film Critics Circle) Best Actor, Downhill Racer
• 1970 Nominee, Golden Laurel Award, Best Action Performance, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• 1970, Winner Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Man of the Year
• 1971, Nominee, Golden Laurel Award, Best Action Performance, Big Hauss and Little Halsy
• 1971, Winner, BAFTA, Best Actor, for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Tell Them Willie Boy is Here, and Downhill Racer
• 1973, winner Golden Apple Award movie star of the year
• 1974, Oscar nominee, Best Actor, for The Sting
• 1974, Winner, David di Donatello, Best Foreign Actor, for The Sting, shared with Al Pacino for Serpico
• 1975 Nominee, Gold Medal, Photoplay Awards, Favorite Movie, Great Gatsby, shared with Mia Farrow
• 1976 Nominee, Gold Medal, Photoplay Awards, Favorite Male Star
• 1977, Nominee, Gold Medal, Photoplay Award, Favorite ovie, All the President’s Men, shared with Dustin Hoffman
• 1978, Nominee, Gold Medal, Photoplay Award, Favorite Movie, A Bridge Too Far, shared with Ryan O’Neal
• 1978, Nominee, Gold Medal, Photoplay Award,, Favorite Male Motion Picture Star
• 1980, Winner, KCFCC Award (Kansas City Film Critics Circle), Best Director, Ordinary People.
• 1980, Winne rNBR Award (/national Board of Review), Best Director, Ordinary People.
• 1981 Nominee, Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, Silver Ribbon, for Ordinary People
• 1981, Winner, DGA Award (Directors Guild of Americ), Outstanding Directorial Achievement, Ordinary People
• 1994, Winner, Folden Globes, Cecil B. DeMille Award
• 1995, granted honorary doctorate by Bard College
• 1985, Nominee, David di Donatello Award, Best Foreign Actor, Out of Africa.
• 1989, the National Audobon Society granted Redford the Audobon Medal
• 1994, Nominee BFSC Award (Boston Society of Film Critics Award), Best Director Quiz Show
• 1995, Nominee, BAFTA Best Film, Quiz Show
• 1995 Awarded the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.
• 1996, President Bill Clinton awarded Redford the National Medal of the Arts
• 1999, Nominee Blockbuster Entertainment Award, Favorite Actor, Drama/Romance, The Horse Whisperer
• 2002, “Awarded an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement as the creator of Sundance, an inspiration to independent and innovative filmmakers everywhere.”
• Between 1965 and 2003, Redford won six Golden Globes awards, and was nominated for five more.
• 2010, appointed chevalier of the Légion d’honneur by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
• 2005, Kennedy Center Honors
• 2008, received the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for making an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life
• 2013, Winner, NYFCC Award, Best Actor, for All Is Lost
• 2008, granted anhonorary doctorate by Brown University
• 2016, President Barak Obama awarded Redford the Presidential Medal of Freedom
• 2019, Winner, Honorary Cesar Award

Theatrical Career

Redford made his Broadway debut in Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse’s Tall Story. His first television roles were for Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Twilight Zone. His first movie was Tall Story (1960). His final performance on screen was as the wicked Alexander Pierce in Winter Soldier. He made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed Ordinary People. He appeared in over eighty movies and television shows during his more than half-century career. He was director of ten projects and producer of more than fifty films and TV shows. Whether he sat in the director’s chair or acted in front of the cameras, he always gave his audiences their money’s worth. With the possible exception of Indecent Proposal (1984). He was nominated for a Raspberry “Award” for worst actor for his role in Indecent Proposal.

Robert Redford was married twice, first to historian Lola Van Wegenen, from 1957 to 1985, and then to artist Sibylle Szaggars. He had four children with his first wife, two sons, Scott and James, and two daughters, Shauna and Amy. His firstborn son, Scott, predeceased him, succumbing to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (formerly known as crib death). In the 1950s, Redford attended the University of Colorado, but was unable to graduate. He was later awarded honorary degrees by the University of Colorado, Colby College, Brown University and Bard College. Two of these honorary degrees were doctorates.

Robert Redford lived a long, full life, and we hope a happy one. He earned the respect of his colleagues and the admiration of his fans. Please join all of us here at SciFi.Rado in offering our condolences to his family. He will doubtless continue to inspire actors and filmmakers for generations to come.