Robert Redford, 1936-2025

The film actor, producer, director, and promoter of “indie” films Robert Redford has died. Variety’s obit by Steve Chagollan is pretty good:

Robert Redford, the leading man with the golden-boy looks who won an Oscar for directing “Ordinary People” and later became a godfather for independent film as founder of the Sundance Film Institute, died Tuesday in Utah. He was 89.

Cindi Berger, chief executive of the publicity firm Rogers & Cowan PMK, confirmed the news to Variety.

“Robert Redford passed away on September 16, 2025, at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,” Berger said in a statement. “He will be missed greatly. The family requests privacy.”

After a litany of his film credits Mr. Chagollan gets to the meat of the obit:

In addition to Redford’s status as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after leading men through much of the ’70s and ’80s, the Sundance Film Institute and the festival that bears its name may be considered an equally significant legacy.

Redford belied expectations when he founded the organization in the mountains of Utah in 1981, still flush from winning the Oscar for directing “Ordinary People” (1980). The effort effectively put his own career on hold for at least three years.

What started out as a modest filmmakers lab became synonymous with the independent film revolution, while its namesake festival would morph into the most important film event in the U.S. for both burgeoning filmmakers and acquisition execs.

In a different piece in Variety Brent Lang is spot on:

“He was an artist who was trapped in this incredibly handsome body,” says Phil Alden Robinson, who directed Redford in 1992’s “Sneakers.” “It can be hard to be taken seriously when you’re that good-looking.”

Redford, who died Sept. 16 at the age of 89, didn’t allow himself to be defined by Hollywood. Instead, he subverted his squeaky-clean persona in films like “The Candidate,” “Downhill Racer” and “All the President’s Men,” which looked critically at the media, celebrity and politics. In the 1970s, when Redford was at his most bankable, he wasn’t interested in making populist crowd-pleasers. Instead, he wanted to hold a mirror up to America at a time when its institutions were crumbling.

and

Yet Redford hoped his greatest legacy wouldn’t be the movies he starred in or directed, but the film festival he established in the mountains of Utah. Sundance, which Redford founded in 1978, was intended to serve as a showcase for emerging artists.

“He helped so many new voices get their big break,” says John Sloss, the veteran agent and manager. “And it wasn’t just auteurs. Sundance was the launching pad for lots of Marvel and tentpole film directors.”

The list of filmmakers who had their first brush with success at Sundance is a who’s who of the most influential directors of the past five decades. From Ava DuVernay (“Middle of Nowhere”) to Steven Soderbergh (“Sex, Lies, and Videotape”), Quentin Tarantino (“Reservoir Dogs”) to Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”), so many distinguished careers trace their origins to Park City.

If there’s any actor of the second half of the 20th century for whom the monicker “matinee idol” would be appropriate, it would be Robert Redford. He was not really an actor’s actor. I suspect that in the years to come he will be most remembered for promoting new, fresh talent through the Sundance festival. And I think he would be proud of that.