Robert Redford, a leading man in films such as All the President’s Men and Three Days of the Condor, has died at 89 years old.
The New York Times first broke the news, reporting the actor passed in his sleep. At the time of writing, a specific cause of death has not been revealed.
Born August 18, 1936, Redford’s acting career began onstage and in television during the late 1950s. Some of his earliest Broadway roles were bit parts in Tall Story (which he reprised for the 1960 film) and The Highest Tree in 1959, and he later broke out with 1963’s Barefoot in the Park. In 1960, his TV career began as a guest star in The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, and other programs.
Beginning in 1960, he was cast in more movie and TV roles. It wouldn’t be until 1969 that his movie star profile really blew up with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which paired him with Paul Newman for the first time. From that point on, his career was virtually unstoppable, with films like The Sting and The Great Gatsby putting him with major stars like Newman, Barbra Streisand, and Mia Farrow. Some won him awards or nominations, others were some of the highest-grossing movies of their respective years, but all of them continually cemented his movie star status.
For younger audiences, Robert Redford is likely just remembered for playing Alexander Pierce in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Endgame (which was his penultimate acting role), or as Mr. Meacham from the Pete’s Dragon remake. Older viewers know him from too many movies to count, or maybe the ones he directed over his lifetime. In 2008, Sydney Pollack called the actor “[always] difficult to anticipate. There’ll be those who remember him for offbeat movies or as a great romantic leading man in movies like The Way We Were. There will be those who will consider him a great force in the emergence of independent filmmaking, or remember Ordinary People as an impressive directorial debut. […] I think he enjoys, in a perverse way, not doing what you expect him to do.”
Redford is survived by his wife, Sibylle Szaggars; his children; and several grandchildren.
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