Robert Redford may have been one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, but when it came to love, his most meaningful story began far away from the red carpets and bright lights of Los Angeles. The legendary actor, who passed away at age 89 on Sept. 16 at his beloved Sundance home in Utah, found a partner in Sibylle Szaggars — an artist who wasn’t impressed by his fame.
Their paths first crossed in 1996, when Szaggars, a German-born painter, visited Sundance Mountain Resort on a ski trip with friends. Redford, who founded the resort and the Sundance Institute to support independent filmmakers, invited her group to dinner. But Szaggars admitted she wasn’t well-versed in his long list of film credits.
“I knew of him,” Szaggars recalled during a 2014 National YoungArts Foundation panel. “I had seen Jeremiah Johnson, one of my favorite films, and Barefoot in the Park. But I have to also say: I’m not a film person, and I hadn’t been a film person. I was more interested in musicals, opera and painting and artists and Salvador Dalí and Picasso.”
She even rented several of his movies at the resort’s reception desk in case Redford brought them up in conversation. “I thought, ‘What if he wants to talk about his movies? I have no idea — that would be so embarrassing. I probably would have mixed everything.’ Of course, he did not talk about it so I was rescued and saved,” she said.
For Redford, her lack of Hollywood fascination was refreshing. Sitting beside her during that same panel, he admitted, “That’s one of the things that attracted me to her—she didn’t know much about me. So we started from a more even playing field. I didn’t have to worry about any agenda. I’d been through that before. And so it was a wonderful beginning of a relationship because it began as two human beings meeting each other and finding a connection as two human beings rather than being colored by success or whatever.”
The couple quietly nurtured their relationship for more than a decade before marrying in 2009 in Szaggars’ hometown of Hamburg, Germany. Only 30 close friends and family attended the intimate wedding. A year earlier, Redford told German magazine Bunte, “We are engaged and very happy with that. She is my fiancée and that says everything, doesn’t it?”
Szaggars was 21 years younger than Redford, and he later reflected on how her different background and perspective brought him new joy. “She’s a very special person. She’s younger than I am, and European, which I like, so that’s a whole new life,” Redford told AARP The Magazine in 2011.
Together, they also shared a passion for activism. In 2015, the pair founded The Way of the Rain, a nonprofit that combines art and performance to highlight environmental awareness and the need to protect the earth. Their shared work underscored a partnership that was more than romantic — it was purposeful.
Though they mostly stayed out of the spotlight, Redford and Szaggars occasionally appeared together at events, including a 2021 ceremony in Monaco honoring conservation efforts.
After Redford’s passing, Utah Governor Spencer Cox summed up his deep connection to both the state and his marriage. “Decades ago, Robert Redford came to Utah and fell in love with this place. He cherished our landscapes and built a legacy that made Utah a home for storytelling and creativity,” Cox shared.
Robert Redford’s movies will always be remembered, but perhaps the most beautiful story he lived out wasn’t on screen — it was the love and quiet companionship he found in the mountains of Utah with a woman who simply saw him for who he was.