Robert Redford died on Tuesday, September 16, at the age of 89. The cinematic legend, who was born in The Golden State in 1938, created unforgettable characters with his athletic build, his dazzling smile, and his impressive acting chops.
Redford’s early childhood unfolded during the Great Depression in a working class neighborhood of Santa Monica, California. He would later study fine arts in Europe, traveling throughout France and Italy, dividing his time between Paris and Florence. A talented illustrator since high school, Robert edford stayed in the French capital for more than a year in his early 20s producing and selling sketches. These drawings, including female nudes and charcoal portraits, were shown in 2011 as part of the Arternativelight exhibition in Monaco, revealing Redford’s love of the visual arts. It was his second wife, Sibylle Szaggars, who convinced the actor to share them with the general public. “We have about a hundred drawings at our home in California,” she explained to the Monaco newspaper Monaco Hebdo in 2011. “But my husband never wanted to show this work which he did when he was younger, starting in 1957 and continuing into the 1960s. I managed to convince him to show them two years ago when this project was launched.”
Redford’s first on-screen triumph was in the Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1970), directed by George Roy Hill. He starred alongside actor Paul Newman. Sydney Pollack offered him some of his most legendary big-screen roles in The Way We Were (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975), and Out of Africa (1986). The actor directed his first film in 1980, Ordinary People, which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. His fifth film, The Horse Whisperer, which he produced, directed, and starred in, was another resounding success. In 2019, the French film industry celebrated his entire career with an Honorary César Award.
Redford is also famous for the compound he has been building in Utah, a lifelong project inspired by the ecological principles that have long been important to him. Using natural energy sources and respecting the environment, the actor has been continually expanding his estate over the years. “I want to buy a canyon,” Redford told his lawyer when he started the project.
Notably, in April 1989, we published Redford’s colossal property, which is home to a ski resort, wilderness areas, and the Sundance Institute, a creative center dedicated to young independent filmmakers; accordingly, he is also a founder of the Sundance Film Festival, which is now a household name. During the home tour, Redford told AD that he has always had “a visceral sense of place”—“I know instinctively where I feel at home and where I don’t, but I can’t say why.” Sundance currently has 98 hotel rooms at the foot of Mount Timpanogos, and boasts largely Western-inspired decor.
Look back on more images of the iconic actor below.
This photo essay on Robert Redford was originally published by AD France.
