Robert Redford died Tuesday morning at his home in Utah, per the New York Times. The Hollywood star and Oscar-winning director was 89.
Redford is best known as the leading man who dominated the silver screen throughout the 1960s and ’70s, starring in such major films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, and The Sting. He later moved into directing and won an Academy Award for his directorial debut, Ordinary People, in 1980.
In 1981, Redford founded the Sundance Institute, the nonprofit that hosts the Sundance Film Festival, with the goal of uplifting independent filmmakers. “I saw other stories out there that weren’t having a chance to be told and I thought, ‘Well, maybe I can commit my energies to giving those people a chance,’” Redford told the Associated Press in 2018. “As I look back on it, I feel very good about that.” In a statement, the Sundance Institute said it was “humbled to be among the stewards of his remarkable legacy, which will continue to guide the Institute in perpetuity.”
Redford starred opposite some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Meryl Streep, Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda, Demi Moore, Faye Dunaway, and Scarlett Johansson. He famously shared the screen twice with Paul Newman, first in Butch Cassidy and then in The Sting.
In the wake of his death, actors including some of Redford’s former co-stars have shared tributes. Colman Domingo shared a still image of Redford in Three Days of the Condor on X, writing that the late actor’s “everlasting impact would be felt for generations.” Rita Wilson said Redford’s art “stands the test of time” and he will “be remembered always.”
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Streep, who starred alongside him in Out of Africa in 1985, told Deadline, “One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace my lovely friend.” Fonda — who shared the screen with him several times, including in The Chase and Barefoot in the Park — said Redford “meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way” in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “It hit me hard this morning when I read that Bob was gone. I can’t stop crying,” she said.
Streisand, who starred with Redford in The Way We Were, shared a tribute on Instagram, writing, “We were such opposites: he was from the world of horses; I was allergic to them! Yet, we kept trying to find out more about each other, just like the characters in the movie.” She added, “He was one of a kind.”
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