Charles Robert Redford Jr. was born on August 18, 1936,[1] inSanta Monica, California, to Martha Woodruff Redford (née Hart; 1914–1955), who was fromAustin, Texas and Charles Robert Redford Sr. (1914–1991), an accountant.[2] He had a paternal half-brother, William.[3] Redford was of Irish, Scottish and English ancestry.[4][5][6] His patrilineal great-great-grandfather, aProtestant Englishman named Elisha Redford, married Mary Ann McCreery, ofIrish Catholic descent, inManchester, Lancashire. They immigrated toNew York City in 1849, immediately settling next inStonington, Connecticut. They had a son named Charles, the first in line to have been given the name. Regarding Redford's maternal lineage, the Harts were Irish fromGalway and the Greens wereScotch-Irish who settled in the United States in the 18th century.[7] Redford's family lived inVan Nuys while his father worked inEl Segundo. As a child, he and his family often traveled to Austin to visit his maternal grandfather. Redford credited his environmentalism and love of nature to his childhood in Texas.[8]
Redford attendedVan Nuys High School, where he was classmates with baseball pitcherDon Drysdale.[3][9] He described himself as having been a "bad" student, finding inspiration outside the classroom in art and sports.[3] He hit tennis balls withPancho Gonzalez at theLos Angeles Tennis Club to help Gonzalez warm up for matches. Redford had a mild case ofpolio when he was 11.[10]
After graduating from high school in 1954,[11] he attended theUniversity of Colorado inBoulder for a year and a half,[3][12][13] where he was a member ofKappa Sigmafraternity.[14] While there, he worked at a restaurant/bar called The Sink, where a painting of his likeness now figures prominently among the bar's murals.[15][better source needed] While at Colorado, Redford began drinking heavily and, as a result, lost his half-scholarship and was expelled from school.[12][13] He went on to travel in Europe, living in France, Spain and Italy.[3] He later studied painting at thePratt Institute inBrooklyn, New York and took classes at theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts (Class of 1959) in Manhattan, New York.[3][16]
Redford made his screen debut in the film adaptation ofTall Story (1960), reprising his Broadway role, although he was not credited.[20] The film's stars wereAnthony Perkins,Jane Fonda andRay Walston. After his Broadway success, he was cast in larger feature roles in movies. In 1960, Redford was cast as Danny Tilford, a mentally disturbed young man trapped in the wreckage of his family garage, in "Breakdown", one of the last episodes of thesyndicated adventure seriesRescue 8, starringJim Davis andLang Jeffries.[21] Redford earned anEmmy nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance inThe Voice of Charlie Pont (ABC, 1962). One of his last television appearances until 2019 was on October 7, 1963, onBreaking Point, anABC medical drama about psychiatry.[22]
While Redford did not receive an Academy Award or Golden Globe nomination for playing the Sundance Kid, he won a British Academy of Film and Television Award (BAFTA) for that role and his parts inDownhill Racer[28] (1969) andTell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969). The latter two films and the subsequentLittle Fauss and Big Halsy (1970) andThe Hot Rock (1972) were not commercially successful. Redford had long harbored ambitions to work on both sides of the camera. As early as 1969, Redford had served as the executive producer forDownhill Racer.[3] The political satireThe Candidate (1972) was a moderate box-office and critical success.[29]
Redford in 1973
Starting in 1973, Redford experienced a four-year run of box-office successes. The westernJeremiah Johnson's (1972) box-office earnings from early 1973 until its second re-release in 1975 would have placed it as the 2nd-highest-grossing film of 1973.[30] His romantic period drama withBarbra Streisand,The Way We Were (1973), was the 5th-highest-grossing film of 1973.[30] The crime caper reunion with Paul Newman,The Sting (1973), became the top-grossing film of 1974[31] and one of the top-twenty highest-grossing movies of all time when adjusted for inflation and it also landed Redford the lone nomination of his career for theAcademy Award for Best Actor.[3] The following year he starred in the romantic dramaThe Great Gatsby (1974), also starringMia Farrow,Sam Waterston andBruce Dern. The film was the 8th-highest-grossing film of 1974.[31]Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) placed as the 10th-highest-grossing film for 1974, as it was re-released due to the popularity ofThe Sting.[31] In 1974, Redford became the first performer sinceBing Crosby in 1946 to have three films in a year's top-ten-grossing titles. Each year between 1974 and 1976, movie exhibitors voted Redford Hollywood's top box-office star.[3]
In 1975, Redford's hit movies included a 1920s aviation drama,The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) and the spy thrillerThree Days of the Condor (1975), alongsideFaye Dunaway, which finished 16th and 17th in box-office grosses for 1975, respectively.[32] In 1976, he co-starred withDustin Hoffman in the 2nd-highest-grossing film for the year, the critically acclaimedAll the President's Men.[33] In 1976, Redford publishedThe Outlaw Trail: A Journey Through Time. Redford stated, "The Outlaw Trail. It was a name that fascinated me—a geographical anchor in Western folklore. Whether real or imagined, it was a name that, for me, held a kind of magic, a freedom, a mystery. I wanted to see it in much the same way as the outlaws did, by horse and by foot and document the adventure with text and photographs."[34]
All the President's Men, in which Redford and Hoffman playWashington Post reportersBob Woodward andCarl Bernstein, was a landmark film for Redford. Not only was he the executive producer and co-star, but the film's serious subject matter—theWatergate scandal—and its attempt to create a realistic portrayal of journalism also reflected the actor's offscreen concerns for political causes.[3] The film landed eight Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Director (Alan J. Pakula), while winning for the Best Screenplay (Goldman). It won theNew York Film Critics Award for Best Picture and Best Director. In 1977, Redford appeared in a segment of the war filmA Bridge Too Far (1977). He took a two-year hiatus from movies before starring as a past-his-prime rodeo star in the adventure-romanceThe Electric Horseman (1979). This film reunited him with Fonda, finishing at No. 9 at the box office in 1980.[35]
Redford's first film as director was the drama filmOrdinary People (1980), a drama about the slow disintegration of anupper-middle class family after the death of a son. Redford was credited with obtaining a powerful, dramatic performance fromMary Tyler Moore, as well as superb work fromDonald Sutherland andTimothy Hutton, who also won the Oscar forBest Supporting Actor. The film is one of the most critically and publicly acclaimed films of the decade, winning fourAcademy Awards, includingBest Director for Redford himself andBest Picture.[36][3] CriticRoger Ebert declared it "an intelligent, perceptive and deeply moving film."[37] Later that year he appeared in the prison dramaBrubaker (1980), playing aprison warden attempting to reform the system.[38]
Soon afterwards, he starred in the baseball dramaThe Natural (1984).[3] Sydney Pollack'sOut of Africa (1985), with Redford in the male lead role oppositeMeryl Streep, became a large box office success (combined 1985 and 1986 grosses placed it at No. 5 for 1986),[39] won a Golden Globe for Best Picture,[40] and won sevenOscars, including Best Picture. Streep was nominated for Best Actress, but Redford did not receive a nomination. The movie proved to be Redford's biggest success of the decade and Redford and Pollack's most successful of their seven movies together.[3] Redford's next film,Legal Eagles (1986) alongsideDebra Winger, was only a minor success at the box office.[41]
Redford did not direct again untilThe Milagro Beanfield War (1988), a well-crafted, though not commercially successful, screen version ofJohn Nichols's acclaimed novel of the Southwest.The Milagro Beanfield War is the story of the people of Milagro, New Mexico (based on the real town ofTruchas in northern New Mexico), overcoming big developers who set about to ruin their community and force them out with tax increases.
Redford continued as a major star throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In 1992, he released his third film as a director, the period dramaA River Runs Through It, based onNorman Maclean's novella, starringCraig Sheffer,Brad Pitt andTom Skerritt. Redford received a nomination for theGolden Globe Award for Best Director. This was a return to mainstream success for Redford as a director and brought a young Pitt to greater prominence. In 1994, he directed the exposéQuiz Show about the quiz show scandal of the late 1950s.[3] In the latter film, Redford worked from a screenplay byPaul Attanasio with cinematographerMichael Ballhaus and a cast that featuredPaul Scofield,John Turturro,Rob Morrow andRalph Fiennes.David Ansen ofNewsweek wrote, "Robert Redford may have become a more complacent movie star in the last decade, but he has become a more daring and accomplished filmmaker. 'Quiz Show' is his best movie since 'Ordinary People'".[42]
Redford also directedMatt Damon andWill Smith inThe Legend of Bagger Vance (2000).[45] He appeared as a disgraced Army general sent to prison in the prison dramaThe Last Castle (2001), directed by Rod Lurie.[46] In the same year, Redford reteamed with Pitt forSpy Game, another success for the pair but with Redford switching this time from director to actor. During that time, he planned to direct and star in a sequel ofThe Candidate[47] but the project never happened.[48] Redford, a leading environmental activist, narrated theIMAX documentarySacred Planet (2004), a sweeping journey across the globe to some of its most exotic and endangered places.[49] InThe Clearing (2004), Redford portrayed Wayne Hayes, a shrewd businessman whose kidnapping forces him and his wife to confront the personal compromises behind their seemingly ideal life.[50]
Redford in 2009
Redford stepped back into producing withThe Motorcycle Diaries (2004), a coming-of-age road film aboutErnesto "Che" Guevara as a young medical student and his friendAlberto Granado. It also explored the political and social issues of South America that influenced Guevara and shaped his future. With five years spent on the film's making, Redford was credited by directorWalter Salles for being instrumental in getting it made and released.[51] Back in front of the camera, Redford received good notices for his role in directorLasse Hallström'sAn Unfinished Life (2005) as a cantankerous rancher who takes in his estranged daughter-in-law (Jennifer Lopez) and the granddaughter he never knew, after they flee an abusive relationship.[52]
Meanwhile, Redford returned to familiar territory when he reteamed with Streep, 22 years after they starred inOut of Africa, for his personal projectLions for Lambs (2007), which also starredTom Cruise. After a great deal of hype, the film opened to mixed reviews and disappointing box office.Owen Gleiberman ofEntertainment Weekly wrote, "Lions for Lambs is so square it's like something out of the gray twilight glow of the golden age of television. Even the military plot, which clunks, seems to be taking place on stage."[53] In 2010, Redford releasedThe Conspirator, a period drama revolving around the assassination ofAbraham Lincoln.[54] Redford appeared in the 2011 documentaryBuck byCindy Meehl, where he discussed his experiences with title subjectBuck Brannaman during the production ofThe Horse Whisperer.[55] In 2012, Redford directedThe Company You Keep, in which he starred as a formerWeather Underground activist who goes on the run after a journalist discovers his identity. The film starred himself,Shia LaBeouf andJulie Christie.[56]
In 2013, Redford starred inAll Is Lost, directed byJ.C. Chandor, about a man lost at sea. He received acclaim for his performance in the film, in which he was its only cast member and there is almost no dialogue. Redford was nominated for aGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and won theNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, his first time winning an acting honor from that group (he had been nominated in 1969 forDownhill Racer). Ali Arikan wrote inRogerEbert.com, "Chandor plays to Redford's strengths: his battered visage, calm determination and detachment from the vagaries of a "normal" existence. In return, Redford gives the performance of the latter half of his career in a role that is not just physically, but also psychologically demanding".[57]
Redford (center) at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017
Also in 2015, he played news anchorDan Rather inJames Vanderbilt'sTruth alongsideCate Blanchett. The film received mixed reviews withJustin Chang ofVariety noting, "Redford, who bears a solid resemblance to Rather but not quite enough to make you forget whom you're watching, plays the veteran newsman with easy gravitas, inner strength and a gentle paternal twinkle, with little display of the anger and volatility for which he was often known over the course of his storied career."[60] In 2016, he took the supporting role of Mr. Meacham in theDisney remakePete's Dragon. The next year, Redford starred inThe Discovery andOur Souls at Night, both released onNetflix streaming in 2017. The latter film, which he also produced, reunited him with Fonda for the fifth time and garnered positive reviews.[61]
Redford played bank robberForrest Tucker in theDavid Lowery–directed drama filmThe Old Man & the Gun, which was released in September 2018 and for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. Alissa Wikinson wrote inVox, "InThe Old Man & the Gun, both Redford and Lowery are returning to their roots. For Redford, a role as a lifelong bank robber feels like a fitting cap to a career effectively launched half a century ago with his role alongside Paul Newman inButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."[62] In August 2018, Redford announced his retirement from acting after completion of the film,[63][64] though the following month, Redford stated that he "regretted" announcing his retirement because "you never know".[65]
Redford briefly reprised his role as Alexander Pierce with acameo inAvengers: Endgame, filmed in 2017 before the completion of the former film.[66] Redford, an executive producer of the seriesDark Winds, made a cameo alongside fellow executive producerGeorge R. R. Martin portraying a detainee playing chess.[67]
Redford attended theUniversity of Colorado in the 1950s and received an honorary degree in 1988. In 1989, theNational Audubon Society awarded Redford its highest honor, the Audubon Medal.[71] In 1995, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree fromBard College. Redford received an honorary doctorate fromBrown University in 2008.[72] He was a 2010 recipient of the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.[73] In 2014, Redford was named byTime magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.[74] In May 2015, Redford delivered the commencement address and received an honorary degree fromColby College in Maine.[75]
In 1996, he was awarded theNational Medal of Arts from PresidentBill Clinton.[76] On October 14, 2010, Redford was appointedchevalier of theLégion d'honneur by PresidentNicolas Sarkozy.[77]On November 22, 2016, PresidentBarack Obama honored Redford with aPresidential Medal of Freedom.[78] In December 2005, he received theKennedy Center Honors for his contributions to American culture. The honors recipients are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts: whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures, or television.[79]
In 2008, Redford receivedThe Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, one of the richest prizes in the arts, given annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life."[80] TheUniversity of Southern California (USC) School of Dramatic Arts announced the first annualRobert Redford Award for Engaged Artists in 2009. According to the school's website, the award was created "to honor those who have distinguished themselves not only in the exemplary quality, skill and innovation of their work, but also in their public commitment to social responsibility, to increasing awareness of global issues and events and to inspiring and empowering young people."[81]
With the financial proceeds of his acting success, starting with his salaries fromButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid andDownhill Racer, Redford bought aski area on the east side ofMount Timpanogos, located in theWasatch Mountains[82] northeast ofProvo, Utah, called "Timp Haven".[83][84] He renamed it "Sundance" after hisSundance Kid character.[3] Redford's ex-wife Lola was from Utah and they had built a home in the area in 1963. Portions of the movieJeremiah Johnson (1972), a film which was both one of Redford's favorites and one that heavily influenced him, were shot near the ski area.[85] Redford went on to create theSundance Film Festival, which became the country's largest festival for independent films. The festival, which was initially known as the Utah/US festival, eventually would be named for Redford's "Sundance" land.[82] In 2008, Sundance exhibited 125 feature-length films from 34 countries, with more than 50,000 attendees inSalt Lake City[86][87] andPark City, Utah.[88] Robert Redford also founded theSundance Institute,Sundance Cinemas, Sundance Catalog and theSundance Channel, all in and around Park City, 30 miles (48 km) north of the Sundance ski area.[3] Redford also owned a Park City restaurant, Zoom, that closed in May 2017.[89]
Redford was the co-owner ofWildwood Enterprises, Inc., with Bill Holderman, producer, with the following film credits:Lions for Lambs;Quiz Show;A River Runs Through It;Ordinary People;The Horse Whisperer;The Legend of Bagger Vance;Slums of Beverly Hills;The Motorcycle Diaries; andThe Conspirator.[90]
Following his founding of the nonprofitSundance Institute in Park City, Utah, in 1981, Redford was deeply involved withindependent film.[3] Through its various workshop programs and popular film festival, Sundance has provided support for independent filmmakers. In 1995, Redford signed a deal withShowtime to start a 24-hour cable television channel devoted to airing independent films. TheSundance Channel premiered on February 29, 1996.[93]
On August 9, 1958, Redford marriedLola Van Wagenen in Las Vegas.[94] The couple had four children: Scott Anthony, Shauna Jean,David James andAmy Hart. Scott died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) at the age of 2½ months. Shauna is a painter and married to journalistEric Schlosser.[95] James was a writer and producer who died ofcancer in 2020.[96] Amy is an actress, director and producer.[97] Redford had seven grandchildren.[98][99]
Redford and Van Wagenen never publicly announced a separation or divorce, but in 1982, entertainment columnist Shirley Eder reported that the pair "have been very much apart for a number of years."[100] Redford was negotiating theirdivorce settlement while filmingOut of Africa in 1984.[101] In 1991,Parade magazine said, "it is unclear whether the divorce has been finalized."[102]
On July 11, 2009, Redford and his longtime girlfriend, Sibylle Szaggars, married at the Louis C. Jacob Hotel inHamburg, Germany. She had moved in with Redford in 1996 and shared his home inSundance, Utah.[103] In May 2011,Robert Redford: The Biography was published byAlfred A. Knopf, written byMichael Feeney Callan with Redford's cooperation, drawing extensively from his personal papers, diaries and taped interviews.[104]
Redford supported Brent Cornell Morris in his unsuccessful campaign for the Republican nomination forUtah's 3rd congressional district in 1990.[107] Redford also supportedGary Herbert, another Republican and a friend, in Herbert's successful 2004 campaign to be elected lieutenant governor of Utah. Herbert later became governor of Utah.[109]
As an avid environmentalist, Redford was a trustee of theNatural Resources Defense Council. He also served as vice president for The Way of the Rain, a group that raises awareness about environmental issues through artistic performances, for which Sibylle Szaggars Redford is founder and president.[110][111] He endorsed Democratic presidentBarack Obama for re-election in 2012.[112] Redford was the first quote on the back cover ofDonald Trump's bookCrippled America (2015), saying of Trump's candidacy, "I'm glad he's in there, being the way he is and saying what he says and the ways he says it, I think shakes things up and I think that is very needed."[113][114] A representative later clarified that Redford's statement, taken from a longer conversation withLarry King, was not intended to endorse Trump for president.[115]
In 2019, Redford penned anop-ed in which he referred to Trump's administration as a "monarchy in disguise" and stated "[i]t's time for Trump to go".[116] Redford later co-authored another op-ed in which he criticized Trump's handling of theCOVID-19 pandemic while also citing the collective public response to the pandemic as a model for how to respond toclimate change.[117] He criticized the decision to withdraw from theParis Agreement.[118] In July 2020, Redford penned an op-ed in which he stated that President Trump lacks a "moral compass". In the same piece, he announced that he would be supportingJoe Biden in the2020 presidential election.[119]
Redford was opposed to theTransCanada Corporation'sKeystone Pipeline.[120] In 2013, he was identified by its CEO,Russ Girling, for leading the anti-pipeline protest movement.[120] In April 2014, Redford, aPitzer College Trustee and Pitzer College PresidentLaura Skandera Trombley announced that the college would divestfossil fuel stocks from its endowment; at the time, it was the higher-education institution with the largest endowment in the U.S. to make this commitment. The press conference was held at the LA Press Club. In November 2012, Pitzer launched the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability at Pitzer College.[121]
On September 16, 2025, Redford died in his sleep at his home in Sundance, Utah, at the age of 89.[20][122] Several of Redford's co-stars paid tribute to him, including frequent collaboratorJane Fonda, who wrote, "He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way. He stood for an America that we have to keep fighting for."[123] HisOut of Africa co-starMeryl Streep wrote, "One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace, my lovely friend." HisThe Way We Were co-starBarbra Streisand released a lengthy statement, which read in part, "Bob was charismatic, intelligent, intense, always interesting—and one of the finest actors ever."[124] HisAll the President's Men co-starDustin Hoffman paid tribute to Redford, writing, "Working with Redford...was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had...I'll miss him".[125]
During his career, Redford was often described as asex symbol, particularly during the 1970s.[137] TheBBC News called his appeal "all-American good looks [that] couldn't be ignored".[138] TheAssociated Press noted that Redford's "wavy blond hair and boyish grin made him the most desired of leading men" during the height of his career.[137] However, Redford himself rejected the label of being a sex symbol. In a 1974 interview withThe New York Times, Redford responded to his image as a symbol by saying "I never thought of myself as a glamorous guy, a handsome guy, any of that stuff. Suddenly, there's this image...Glamour image can be a real handicap. It is crap."[139]
Following Redford's death, an obituary published inVariety remarked that he "became a godfather for independent film as founder of the Sundance Film Institute", that "as a movie star in his prime, few could touch him" and that "in his '70s heyday, few actors possessed Redford's star wattage".[23] Writing forThe Guardian, Andrew Pulver characterized Redford as a "giant of American cinema" and "one of the defining movie stars of the 1970s, crossing with ease between theHollywood New Wave and the mainstream film industry".[140] TheLos Angeles Times remembered Redford as a "generational icon".[51] In France, Culture MinisterRachida Dati praised him as "a giant of American cinema".[141] As the founder of Sundance Film Festival, he has been described as a "godfather of independent cinema".[142]
The New York Times noted that Redford's films were known for depicting serious topics such as corruption and grief that "[resonated] with the masses", as he wanted his films to carry "cultural weight" and that Redford took "risks by exploring dark and challenging material".[20] He was hailed as one of "few truly iconic screen figures of the past half-century" and as "Hollywood's Golden Boy" byThe Hollywood Reporter.[143] FilmmakerRon Howard praised Redford and his work, calling him "a tremendously influential cultural figure" and an "artistic gamechanger".[144] His creation of the Sundance Film Festival was credited as a "boost [to] independent film-making".[144] After he was awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom in 2016,The Salt Lake Tribune called Redford's Sundance Film Festival a "catalyst for an explosion of independent films".[145]
Time noted Redford's environmental activism, calling him "fiercely dedicated to pushing for a world that was habitable for all" and mentioning that the Redford Foundation helped support environmentally friendly filmmaking.[146] His environmental awareness led toFox News remembering Redford as a "Hollywood icon" [who] "committed himself to being a good steward of the environmental movement and a champion of theAmerican Southwest".[147] In 2016, then-presidentBarack Obama called Redford "one of the foremostconservationists of our generation".[148]
^abDe Forest, Ben (August 10, 1983)."Redford plays a natural".The Dispatch. Lexington, North Carolina. Associated Press. p. 9.Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. RetrievedApril 1, 2020.
^ab"Redford visits 'party school'".Wilmington Morning Star. North Carolina. Associated Press. May 14, 1987. p. 7D.Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. RetrievedApril 1, 2020.
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