Handsome, talented, environmentalist, activist, actor, director, painter, producer, businessman, and more… While Robert Redford was known as “Hollywood’s Golden Child” and “The Most Handsome Leading Man,” he also stepped behind the camera; he became a director and a producer. He gave life to independent cinema. He never abandoned his love for nature and commitment to environmentalism.
On September 16, 2025, at the age of 89, Charles Robert Redford Jr. passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was such a multifaceted individual that it is not easy to capture him in words. Born in 1936 in Santa Monica, California, this blond-haired child first won hearts with his acting talent. And then? What followed was a very long life and journey…
Nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars in 1974 for his performance in The Sting, Robert Redford went on to win the Academy Award for Best Director in 1981 with Ordinary People. He was a handsome and talented actor, but he also wanted to prove himself behind the camera. And he did – joining the rare group of directors who won an Oscar with their very first movie. Let’s get to know more closely the legendary actor who also founded the Sundance Film Festival, the event that gave life to independent cinema.
Tested By Loss
There is no information about his mother’s profession, but he was the son of an accountant father. At the age of 11, Robert suffered a mild case of polio. Shortly afterward, his twin sisters passed away. During his childhood, they often visited his mother’s relatives in Texas, where he developed the love of nature that would remain constant throughout his life.
In 1954, he graduated from Van Nuys High School and began attending the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship. He was a poor student, with his interests lying mainly in sports and art. At the same time, he worked in bars and restaurants. That same year, at just 18, he was devastated by his mother’s death. Struggling with alcohol, he lost his scholarship. It was a dark period during which he even committed a few petty thefts.
In Search, in Europe
For some reason, he went to Europe – Spain, Italy and France – and spent a year there. He worked as a gas station attendant. At just 19, he looked at his country from a distance. When he returned to the U.S., he knew much better what he wanted to do. He studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Later, he took classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan (1959).
His acting career began in New York, both on stage and on television. He had his first small Broadway role in Tall Story in 1959. For his first major role, he would have to wait until Barefoot in the Park (1963). He also appeared as a guest actor in many popular television productions of the time. He was handsome, talented, and dedicated… both the stage and the camera embraced him. A blond-haired actor was born.
A Golden Career
This blond-haired man would go on to have a golden film career. He regarded Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (released in Türkiye as Sonsuz Ölüm) as the most important milestone of his career. All the President’s Men, The Sting (winner of 7 Oscars), The Natural, The Way We Were, Out of Africa, and The Great Gatsby are among his best-known movies.
Being handsome and talented was not enough for him; he wanted to show his genius behind the camera as well. He first sat in the director’s chair with Ordinary People (1980), a movie he also produced. It earned him the Academy Award for Best Director. Losses always marked Robert Redford’s life. When he lost his first child, Scott, just a few months after birth, he was devastated. It was no coincidence that his debut as a director told the story of a family shattered by the loss of a child.
Quiz Show, The Legend of Bagger Vance, The Horse Whisperer, The Milagro Beanfield War, and A River Runs Through It are among the significant movies he directed. His last movie as a director was Lions for Lambs (2007), starring Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep.
In 2002, he received the Academy Honorary Award, in 2005 the Kennedy Center Honors for his contributions to American culture, and in 2008 the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, awarded to those who make extraordinary contributions to the beauty of the world and the enjoyment and understanding of life.
A Breath of Life for Independent Cinema
Although today everyone knows the independent film festival Sundance, founded in Utah as a reaction against Hollywood’s formulas and the Academy, when Robert Redford first launched it in 1978, few understood what was happening. This initiative, which gave fresh life to independent cinema, provided a platform for many talents such as Quentin Tarantino, Jordan Peele, and Joel and Ethan Coen.
Redford married the love of his life, Lola Van Wagenen, in 1959. From his marriage came four children, one of whom lived only two months. He would go on to have seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. In an interview, Redford said that the greatest achievement of his life was his children.
He was always politically active – supporting environmental movements, Native American rights, and minority causes. The golden child of the previous century, he came and went through this world as a true gentleman.
