One of the greatest leading men in the history of cinema is gone. On September 16, 2025, Robert Redford died at the age of 89. The Oscar winner passed away at his home “in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,” said his publicist Cindi Berger (via NBC News). “He will be missed greatly. The family requests privacy.” The cause of Redford’s death has not been confirmed.
On top of his career in front of the camera, which began in the 1960s, Redford was also an active producer and director. He was very skilled about choosing his projects, which led to appearances in acclaimed films ranging from “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” to “All the President’s Men.” He later played undercover Hydra agent Alexander Pierce in the Marvel Cinematic Universe hit “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” a role he reprised in the box office smash “Avengers: Endgame.” His work in front of and behind the camera received numerous awards and accolades, including a best director Academy Award for 1980’s “Ordinary People” and an honorary Oscar for his many achievements in the filmmaking industry in 2002. He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
However, Redford’s private life was not without tragedies, and as such, he always considered his loved ones far more important than his illustrious career. “There have been so many hits on our family that no one knows about, and I don’t want them to, for my family’s sake,” he told People in 1998. “I’ve made some interesting movies, and I’ve been very satisfied with the work, but if someone wrapped it all up and said to me, ‘What’s your greatest achievement?’ I’d say, ‘The children. They’re the best thing in my life.'”
Robert Redford wanted to be known for the quality of his work
Robert Redford was born in 1936 in Santa Monica, California. While he was a natural athlete, the early stages of his career path showed no sign of his future status as an ultra-successful entertainment icon. On the contrary, Redford used to consider himself quite the loser on the professional front. “Actually, I was a failure at everything I tried,” he told Success magazine in 1980. “I worked as a box boy at a supermarket and got fired. Then my dad got me a job at Standard Oil — fired again.”
After the death of his mother in 1955, Redford lost interest in academia and relocated to Europe for a while in order to find his roots as an artist. His stay on the old continent also awakened a lifelong interest in societal and political issues. In 1960, he made his debut in acting — and the rest, as they say, is history.
Though Redford was well-known for his movie star good looks, he preferred to keep the focus on the art of acting, to the point that he was often annoyed by the media’s obsession with his handsomeness. “This constant reference to me being the way I looked, it made me crazy, like I was being put into a cage,” he told Esquire in 2013. “Something locked in that kind of locked me in. You struggle — you say, ‘No, I’m an actor.’ I came into this because of the craft of acting.”
As his considerable résumé no doubt proves, he was very successful in making people see his talent. He’ll be remembered as one of the best Hollywood has ever seen.