Robert Redford Has Passed Away at the Age of 89

Screen legend Robert Redford has died. He passed away in his sleep at the age of 89. Over a seven-decade career, he left a hell of a mark as an actor, director, producer, environmental activist, and as the founder of the Sundance Film Festival, which he paid for with the proceeds he earned from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Downhill Racer.

Like his sometimes co-star Paul Newman, Redford was just good people. He was cool and talented and he cared not only about the arts — Sundance is singly responsible for hundreds of film careers — but he was a tireless advocate for the environment and for the rights of LGBTQ people and Native Americans (his last screen role, fittingly, was in Dark Winds, the AMC series he also produced).

Born in Santa Monica in 1936, Redford began acting in the late 1950s, hitting it big with films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and All the President’s Men. He never won an Oscar for acting, but he did win one for his directorial debut, Ordinary People. He also directed A River Runs Through It, Quiz Show, and Lions for Lambs, among others.

His work for environmental causes also earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Kennedy Center Honors, back when those meant something.

Redford is survived by his wife Sibylle Szaggars and his children.

May his memory be a blessing.