Robert Redford dies at 89: Oscar-winning actor & Sundance founder

Robert Redford, the quintessentially handsome leading man who starred in acclaimed movies, won an Academy Award as a director and was hailed as the "godfather of indie films" for founding the Sundance Film Festival, has died. He was 89.

The New York Times reported his death, citing a statement by Cindi Berger, the chief executive of the publicity firm Rogers & Cowan PMK. She said he died in his sleep in Utah.

Redford's portrayals of heroic or romantic characters drove hit movies through six decades starting in the 1960s.


They included Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973)-in which he shared the screen with his longtime friend Paul Newman-plus All the President's Men (1976) and The Natural (1984).

Though studious and serious about his profession and about the environmental causes he championed, Redford was undeniably helped by his megawatt smile, blue eyes and mop of strawberry-blonde hair. His on-screen romantic partners included Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand, Faye Dunaway, Meryl Streep and Michelle Pfeiffer.