Robert Redford, Titan of American Film Industry, Dies at 89

PARK CITY, UTAH — Screen icon Robert Redford, who was also an Oscar-winning director and titan of independent cinema, died Tuesday at the age of 89. Redford passed away “at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,” publicist Cindi Berger said in a statement. No cause of death was given.

Redford rose to stardom in the 1960s, including his famed role alongside Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). He became arguably the most prominent actor in the world during the following decade, with films that included All the President’s Men, The Sting (starring opposite Newman again), The Great Gatsby, Three Days of the Condor, A Bridge Too Far, and The Way We Were.

He won his first of two Academy Awards as Best Director for 1980’s Ordinary People, which also won Best Picture. He continued to build his legacy that decade with starring roles in iconic films such as The Natural and the Best Picture winner Out of Africa. The 1990s brought another memorable performance alongside Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson in Indecent Proposal, as well as directing Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It.

As he matured, he successfully transitioned from handsome leading man to a more mature presence in movies like The Last Castle, Lions for Lambs, and The Company You Keep. 2001's Spy Game saw him playing opposite Pitt in a dynamic that seemingly reversed the one he enjoyed the other end of with Newman.

Redford created the Sundance Institute and its associated film festival as a response to Hollywood's growing caution about the types of films it would finance. The Park City, Utah, event helped launch the careers of several previously unknown filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Soderbergh, and Darren Aronofsky.

In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Redford the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in recognition of the actor's decades of work for environmental causes.