Hollywood legend Robert Redford dies

Hollywood icon Robert Redford has died at the age of 89.

His publicist confirmed in a statement that Redford passed away on September 16 at his Sundance home in Utah, surrounded by loved ones.

Tributes poured in from across the film industry, with stars including Meryl Streep and Jane Fonda honouring the Oscar-winning actor and director. Redford founded the renowned Sundance Film Festival. He retired from acting in 2018, having admitted two years earlier that he had grown “tired of acting.”

Redford was the son of a milkman who later worked as an accountant. As a teenager, he fell in with a street gang and was once arrested for car theft.

His breakout stage role came as the self-important lawyer Paul Bratter in Neil Simon’s comedy Barefoot in the Park. A year earlier, he won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer for his performance in Inside Daisy Clover.

Redford’s career skyrocketed in 1969 when he starred in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. His portrayal of the Sundance Kid opposite Paul Newman’s Butch Cassidy cemented one of cinema’s most enduring screen duos.