Prominent figures in Hollywood and beyond are sharing heartfelt tributes to Robert Redford, who died Tuesday at age 89.
The prolific actor, Oscar-winning director, producer and independent film festival founder died “at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,” his publicist Cindi Berger said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Redford was one of the most prominent leading men in the 1970s with roles in “All the President’s Men,” “The Candidate” and “The Way We Were.” He won the Academy Award for best director for “Ordinary People” in 1981.
Oscar-winning director Ron Howard called Redford an “artistic game-changer” in a post on X.
Actress Marlee Matlin credited Redford’s Sundance Film Festival for showcasing “CODA” — a film she acted in which won best picture at the Oscars in 2022.
“A genius has passed,” she wrote on X.
Academy Award-nominated actor Colman Domingo lauded Redford’s “everlasting impact.”
Canadian filmmaker Zoe Leigh Hopkins’ first short film, “Prayer for a Good Day,” premiered at Sundance in 2004. She credited Sundance Filmmaker Labs with giving her a voice early in her career.
American horror author Stephen King also paid homage to Redford.
“He was part of a new and exciting Hollywood in the 70s and 80s. Hard to believe he was 89,” King wrote on X.
English broadcaster Piers Morgan shared a clip of an interview he did with Redford in which the icon reminisced about making “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” with actor Paul Newman.
Morgan called Redford “one of the all-time great movie stars.”
“A true Hollywood legend who starred in so many of my favourite films,” he wrote on X. “What a career, what an actor, what a sad loss.”
Illinois congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi called Redford’s death a profound loss.
“Robert Redford believed film should carry meaning and activism should shape the world,” he wrote in a post on X. “From exposing corruption on screen to protecting our environment off it, he showed us the power of conscience as well as art.”
