Screen legend Robert Redford has passed away at the age of 89.
The Oscar winner died in his sleep on Tuesday at his home in Utah, outside of Provo, as confirmed by The New York Times today. The star’s death announcement was made by Cindi Berger, who is the chief executive of publicity firm Rogers & Cowan PMK.
Redford was one of the leading Hollywood men for decades, appearing in a series of blockbusters such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men.
His first big break came in 1963 when he starred on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park, which he would later reprise. He used to star alongside many of Hollywood’s leading ladies at the time, like Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were in 1973 and Jane Fonda in the 1967 movie Barefoot in the Park. The star then started to direct later on in life and won an Oscar for Ordinary People in 1980.
He founded the non-profit Sundance Institute in 1981, which became a staple in the arts world for years to come. In 1984, he transformed a struggling film festival into what is now known as the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.