Actor Robert Redford passed away on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at his home outside of Provo, Utah. No cause of death was stated, however, Cindi Berger (chairman and CEO of Rogers & Cowan PMK) said that he died in his sleep. He was 89 years old.

Redford was a beloved actor whose dramatic chops were enhanced by charm, rugged good looks, and his ability to bring gravitas to action sequences. He was well known for iconic films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Way We Were, The Sting, and All the President’s Men.

Born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, he excelled in several sports during his youth. After graduating from high school in 1954, he earned a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado. Redford’s time in college was short-lived, and he spent a year and a half traveling through Europe and working as an artist. Once back in the US, he started studying design and then acting at the Pratt Institute, followed by the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Redford debuted on Broadway in 1959 in Tall Story, then he was in The Highest Tree, Little Moon of Alban, Sunday in the Park, and in Barefoot in the Park. Around that time, he was also doing guest spots on TV shows, then made his big screen debut in War Hunt in 1962, and his big break came when he starred in the film adaptation of Barefoot in the Park with Jane Fonda. Reford became a bonafide star when he joined Paul Newman to play a pair of outlaws in the western, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

He was in the sports drama Downhill Racer, the western Tell Them Willie Boy is Here, and the satirical political drama, The Candidate. In 1973, he and Barbra Streisand starred in the romantic drama, The Way We Were, and he rejoined Newman to play con artists in The Sting, earning his first Academy Award nomination. Redford was in The Great Gatsby, starred in the CIA thriller Three Days of the Condor, and joined Dustin Hoffman to play real life reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in All the President’s Men.

In 1980, Redford added director to his résumé, helming Ordinary People and winning an Academy Award for Best Director. Around that time, he also helped revive the Utah film festival, which became the famed Sundance Film Festival. The prestigious event gives independent films the opportunity to gain more attention from the media and improve their reach with film fans.

In the ‘80s, he starred in the baseball drama The Natural, worked with Meryl Streep in the romance Out of Africa, and he directed The Milagro Beanfield War. Redford was in A River Runs Through It with Brad Pitt, Indecent Proposal, and directed Quiz Show about real life corruption in 1950s game shows, earning a Best Director and Best Picture nominations. He and Michelle Pfeiffer starred in the journalism drama Up Close & Personal, and he directed, produced, and starred in The Horse Whisperer.

Redford’s work in the 2000s included The Legend of Bagger Vance, Lions for Lambs, and he directed The Conspirator. In 2014, he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe to play Alexander Pierce, the Secretary of the World Security Council who was actually the head of Hydra. He was in A Walk in the Woods, played journalist Dan Rather in Truth, played Alexander Pierce again in Avengers: Endgame, and his final acting appearance was in an episode of Dark Winds (a show he also produced).

In 2002, Redford was given an honorary award from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his contribution to film, then in 2016, President Obama gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.