Robert Redford, Hollywood icon and Sundance creator, dies at 89
Oscar-winning actor and director Robert Redford has died at his Sundance home in Utah at age 89, his representative confirms.
Amy Redford is opening up about her father, Robert Redford’s impact, four months after his death.
In an interview with the “Today” show, the daughter of the legendary director and actor, 55, said he was “playful and curious and kind” and expressed gratitude for the way he raised she and her siblings.
Redford died at 89 on Sept. 16 at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah. He is survived by his second wife, Sibylle, and two children who took up his artistic pursuits: Amy, a filmmaker, and her sister Shauna, a painter. His son Jamie Redford died in 2020, while another son died in infancy. He shared all four children with his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen.
“I think what he taught us to do is really find the thing that we’re most passionate about and the things we think might be able to change the world,” Amy Redford told “Today” on Jan. 19.
“The best thing I think he did for my family was raise usbetween New York City and the mountains of Sundance, because we got to live between the city and in natural law, and taught us a very strong value of stewardship,” she continued. “So, you know, that’s something that I think all of us bring to the table to this day.”
Redford found a home in Sundance in the early 1980s, founding an Institute by the same name there to foster the works of indie directors, theater artists and composers. Out of that organization came the popular Sundance Film Festival, an event held annually in Park City, Utah, that gave filmmakers Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Thomas Anderson and many others their first big breaks in the movie industry.
The festival will kick off this year on Jan. 22.
Contributing: Brian Truitt, USA TODAY