• Faith: Atheist
• Career: Actor
• Birthday:  August 19, 1936
• Date of Death:  September 16, 2025

Robert Redford was a filmmaker and actor who received numerous awards throughout his career, including two Golden Globes and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was also named one of TIME Magazine's most influential people in 2014.

Charles Robert Redford Jr. was born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California. His parents were Martha Woodruff Redford and Charles Robert Redford Sr. He spent his early childhood in a modest, working-class environment. His father worked initially as a milkman and later as an accountant for an oil company. Redford grew up in a largely Hispanic neighborhood in Santa Monica, then later in Van Nuys.

As a boy, Redford showed athletic promise and artistic inclinations: he played baseball, football, and ran track, and also loved sketching and the outdoors. He was not especially strong academically; he disliked sitting still and listening to lectures. In 1954, he graduated from Van Nuys High School. A pivotal and tragic event followed shortly: in 1955 his mother died from septicemia. He was then about 17, and this bereavement had a deep emotional impact on him.

After high school, Redford won a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado. However, his college years were turbulent. He struggled with partying and heavy drinking, lost his scholarship, and did not complete his degree. Seeking a different life, he then traveled in Europe for some time—drawing, painting, and living kind of “bohemian”—before returning to the United States. He also studied art (at Pratt Institute) and acting (at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts) in New York.

Redford’s early years in the United States were marked by stage, television, and small film roles. His Broadway beginnings included plays like Tall Story (1959), The Highest Tree, Sunday in the Park, and a breakthrough in Barefoot in the Park (stage, 1963) under director Mike Nichols. His film debut came around 1962 in War Hunt and various other roles followed.

Redford’s breakout to stardom came in the late 1960s. Two key films were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), opposite Paul Newman, and Downhill Racer (also 1969). Through the 1970s he starred in many films that proved both popular and artistically significant: The Way We Were (1973), The Sting (1973) (which gave him one of his early Oscar nominations), The Great Gatsby (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), and All the President’s Men (1976), among others.

In 1980, Redford made his directorial debut with Ordinary People, which was a major critical success. He won the Academy Award for Best Director, and the film won Best Picture. Over subsequent decades, he alternated between acting and directing, often choosing projects that engaged with political, social, or environmental issues. Some of his directing credits include The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992), Quiz Show (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998), The Conspirator (2011), and The Company You Keep (2012). As an actor, major more recent performances include All Is Lost (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), A Walk in the Woods (2015), and The Old Man & the Gun (2018), which he said might mark his retirement from acting.

Redford also founded the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival (early 1980s) to support independent filmmakers, providing workshops, forums, and exposure. Throughout his career, he has been honored with numerous awards: the Academy Award (Best Director), Academy Honorary Award, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and more.

Redford has had two marriages. His first was to Lola Van Wagenen, married in 1958. With her he had four children: Scott (who died in infancy), Shauna, James (often “Jamie”), and Amy. His marriage to Lola ended in divorce in 1985. Later, he married German painter Sibylle Szaggars in 2009; their relationship had been ongoing since the mid-1990s.

Redford has spoken frequently of the importance of his family as one of his greatest achievements. Besides his film work, he has a strong commitment to environmental causes, independent film, and activism around social justice.

Redford died in his sleep at him home in Provo, Utah at the age of 89 on September 16, 2025.

Was Robert Redford religious?

Robert Redford has been asked many times about religion, spirituality, and faith. His views are not aligned with any one organized religion, and he has described himself in terms closer to secular humanism rather than traditional religious belief.

In an interview in 2011, Redford said that he had explored Christian Science, Buddhism, and his first wife’s Mormon faith, among other beliefs. However, he ultimately adopted what might be described as secular humanism: “I believe in the power, the energy, that nature puts in place.”

In a 2007 interview, when asked if he believed in an afterlife, he said, “I’m not sure I do.” He added that he has explored many religions deeply, but no one philosophy satisfies him.

He has said he does not believe in organized religion, in the sense of institutions telling people what to believe. His spirituality, such as it is, seems to rest in nature and in the energy of nature. He has expressed strong reverence for the natural world, ecological balance, and human responsibility toward the environment.

So, while he is not a traditional believer, Redford’s viewpoint emphasizes ethics, responsibility, awareness, and connection—with nature and with human values—rather than religious dogma or doctrine.