Hollywood Legend Robert Redford Dies at His Utah Home at Age 89

Acclaimed director and actor Robert Redford has died at the age of 89, passing away in his sleep at his longtime home in Utah.

Redford's passing was announced in a statement shared by his publicist, Cindi Berger, who said that the actor died "at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah—the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved."

She did not reveal a cause of death, according to the New York Times.

In the years leading up to his death, Redford had largely withdrawn from Hollywood—selling off his properties in California in favor of living a much quieter life on his ranch outside of Provo, UT, as well as his longtime home in New Mexico.

Redford is survived by his wife, Sibylle Szaggars Redford, as well his daughters Shauna Schlosser Redford and Amy Redford, and his seven grandchildren.

The "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" star's passing comes just nine months after he and his spouse sold one of their last remaining California homes—a charming coastal cottage in Tiburon, CA, which they offloaded for $4.65 million in December 2024.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the property was snapped up by Cricket Wardein, the owner of Mighty Pilates, a fitness studio that has several locations in California.

At the time, Redford and his wife revealed that their decision to sell the home came as a result of the increased amount of time they were spending in New Mexico, where Szaggars Redford runs an art gallery.

In an email to the Journal, the couple noted that they have a "long history with and great affection for the town.” However, they added that they simply aren't spending enough time in the home to justify keeping it—noting that they were focusing much of their time on their charitable foundation in Santa Fe.

“Sadly, we are not able to spend as much time in Tiburon as we would like, as we are now spending more time in Santa Fe, where Sibylle has been creating new art there and focusing on her fine art gallery, Sibylle Szaggars Redford Fine Art,” the couple explained in their email.

“And the two of us are devoting a great deal of time to the non-profit organization, The Way of the Rain, also headquartered in Santa Fe, which produces educational and artistic performances to protect the environment and promote global conservation efforts.”

Six years prior to that sale, Redford had announced his plans to retire from Hollywood, after spending decades working as an actor and director, although he later backtracked slightly, noting that he should not have used such a specific phrase to discuss the evolution of his career.

“It was a mistake to say that I was retiring because you never know,” the actor told People magazine at the premiere of his 2018 film “The Old Man & the Gun,” which he had previously said would be his final on-screen project.

“It did feel like it was time, maybe, to concentrate on another category. ... I shouldn’t have said that because it draws attention away from the film.”

Though he and Szaggars Redford were spending a great deal of time in New Mexico, the couple also had many binding ties to the state of Utah, where they had both owned multiple properties over the years.

Redford purchased his first property in the state back in 1961 with his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen: a 2-acre parcel where they constructed a beautiful property near Sundance.

Speaking to Architectural Digest in 1989, the actor described the home as "the first important thing I accomplished," noting that he completed much of the construction himself.

Although his marriage to Van Wagenen ended in the 1980s (Redford never publicly confirmed when they had divorced), the on-screen icon's ties to Utah endured throughout much of the rest of his life, centering largely on Sundance, which would later become the site of a now-iconic film festival and one of the best-known film industry hot spots outside of Los Angeles.

However, when Redford first set his sights on the area, it was a humble and little-known ski resort, with the actor telling AD: "It was the private Shangri-la of a millionaire Hollywood star.

"I couldn't get a bank loan. Every vehicle we had stalled. The waiters didn't come to work. Our sewers backed up. We were robbed, and the tree in the Tree Room restaurant died."

Although he admitted that he was reluctant to shatter that sanctuary by actively promoting Sundance—or any project linked to it—he ultimately realized that the area could serve as a haven for independent artists looking for a sanctuary away from the glitz and glamor of Hollywood.

Thus, in 1981, Redford's Sundance Institute was born in a bid to "foster new voices in American storytelling and championing independent stories for the screen."

Through the Institute, the actor also launched the Sundance Film Festival, using the event as an opportunity for lesser-known directors and filmmakers to share their work with the world.

In the mid-1990s, Redford then purchased a sprawling 30-acre property in Charleston, UT, named Horse Whisper Ranch, which he put on the market in 2021 for $4.9 million.

The property included four buildings: a 1,460-square-foot cottage with two bedrooms, a 1,996-square-foot garden/hobby house, a wood shop spanning 3,200 square feet, as well as a garage to store boats and an RV.

Horse-riding facilities were also included—such as a pasture, hay barn, four-stall breezeway barn, and covered horse stalls.

"For the last 25 years, my family and I have loved and embraced this ranch as a base for our horse program, running clinics and serving as a home for our many beloved horses," Redford told the Wall Street Journal of his decision to list the property.

"Looking ahead, we want to focus on expanding the facilities at our ranch located at Sundance in nearby Provo Canyon."

At the time of the property's listing, Redford's listing agent, Steve Mavromihalis, told the Wall Street Journal that his client still owned around 1,800 acres of land in Utah, including his beloved ranch near Sundance.