Hollywood icon Robert Redford, Oscar-winning director, liberal activist, and champion of independent cinema, has died at the age of 89. Redford passed away at his home in Sundance, Utah, surrounded by family, publicist Cindi Berger said. No cause of death was provided.

Rising to fame in the 1960s, Redford became a leading star of the 1970s with films such as The Candidate, All the President’s Men, and The Way We Were. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for Ordinary People (1980), which also won Best Picture. Known for his boyish looks, Redford combined charm with political activism, taking on complex roles and promoting low-budget filmmaking.

His on-screen partnerships included Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, and most famously Paul Newman, with whom he starred in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. Beyond acting, he focused on directing and producing, while founding the Sundance Institute and Festival to support independent filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, and Paul Thomas Anderson. The festival, originally in Park City, Utah, is set to relocate to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027.

Redford was born Charles Robert Redford Jr. on Aug. 18, 1937, in Santa Monica, California. He began in television and theater before achieving stardom in Hollywood. He studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and made his Broadway debut in the late 1950s.

Redford’s directing credits include Ordinary People, The Horse Whisperer, Quiz Show, and The Milagro Beanfield War, earning both critical acclaim and Academy Award nominations. He received an honorary Oscar in 2002 for his contributions to cinema and for inspiring independent filmmaking worldwide.

Redford was married twice, most recently to Sibylle Szaggars, and had four children, two of whom predeceased him. He once said his career was guided by an “outlaw sensibility,” always seeking independence and creative freedom.