Robert Redford, actor, director, Sundance founder, dead at 89
File: Robert Redford filming Three Days of the Condor; circa 1970; New York. (Photo by Art Zelin/Getty Images)
Hollywood icon Robert Redford has died Tuesday at 89.
What they’re saying:
Redford died “at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,” publicist Cindi Berger said in a statement that was reported by The Associated Press. No cause of death was provided.
Big picture view:
Redford was an Oscar-winning actor, director, and godfather for independent cinema as the founder of the Sundance Film Festival.
Robert Redford movies
The backstory:
After rising to stardom in the 1960s, Redford was one of the biggest stars of the ’70s with such films as “The Candidate,” “All the President’s Men” and “The Way We Were,” capping that decade with the best director Oscar for 1980’s “Ordinary People,” which also won best picture in 1980.
His co-stars included Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. But his most famous screen partner was his old friend and fellow activist and practical joker Paul Newman, their films a variation of their warm, teasing relationship off screen.
“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”
File: Robert Redford and Paul Newman in pose for the 1969 western ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’. (Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images)
Redford played the wily outlaw opposite Newman in 1969’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” a box-office smash from which Redford’s Sundance Institute and festival got its name.
The Source: Information in this article was taken from a statement from publicist Cindy Berger, as reported by The Associated Press. Background information about his career was taken from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Detroit.
