Jane Fonda says she “can’t stop crying” as she mourns the death of Robert Redford, her longtime screen partner and fellow environmental activist. The influential filmmaker-actor who founded the Sundance Institute died Tuesday at age 89.
“He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way. He stood for an America we have to keep fighting for,” Fonda said in a statement to The Times. She shared the screen with Redford in several films, including “The Chase” and “Barefoot in the Park.”
Fonda is among the Hollywood figures grieving the loss of Redford and paying tribute to his lasting contributions to the film landscape, on- and off-screen. Publicist Cindi Berger confirmed to The Times that Redford died at his home at Sundance in Utah, ”the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved.”
On social media, Oscar winners Ron Howard and Marlee Matlin spoke about how Redford’s Sundance Institute and its film festival long held in Park City, Utah, opened the doors for generations of filmmakers. Howard tweeted on X that Redford was a “tremendously influential cultural figure” who founded a festival that “supercharged America’s Independent Film movement.”
In other words, an “artistic gamechanger,” Howard wrote.
For Matlin, the historic success of her 2021 film “CODA” can be traced back to the Sundance Film Festival and Redford. “Our film, ‘CODA,’ came to the attention of of everyone because of Sundance. And Sundance happened because of Robert Redford,” she wrote.
“CODA,” directed by Sian Heder and starring Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Emilia Jones and Daniel Durant, took home three Academy Awards in 2022, including the best picture prize. The film was the first best picture winner to come out of Sundance since its founding in the 1980s, according to distributor Apple.
Oscar-nominated actor Elizabeth McGovern, who began her screen career in Redford’s “Ordinary People,” reminisced on that opportunity in a statement shared with The Times.
“Robert Redford gave me my first job in ‘Ordinary People,’ setting a high bar in terms of a subsequent career. His intelligence, empathy and understanding, not only as a filmmaker, but also as a person have been difficult to match,” she said. “When we shot ‘Ordinary People,’ he did my scenes on the weekend so that I could attend the Juilliard School during the week. This was the kind of caring person he was. I revered him then; I revere him now.”
Barbra Streisand, who starred opposite Redford in “The Way We Were,” recalled on Instagram that she and her co-star “were such opposites” but “kept trying to find out more about each other, just like the characters in the movie.”
“Bob was charismatic, intelligent, intense, always interesting — and one of the finest actors ever,” she wrote. “He was one of a kind and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.”
Oscar winner Morgan Freeman, who starred with Redford in the 1980 drama “Brubaker” and the 2005 drama “An Unfinished Life,” recalled sparking a friendship with the icon on set and said on X that working with him the second time around “was a dream come true.”
For “Quiz Show” star Ralph Fiennes, Redford was a patient and kind director who had a “droll sense of humor as he guided me through screen acting skills and process,” the actor said in a statement to The Times.
“I treasure my experience working with him, which was also an introduction to a great filmmaker with a true artistic vision of an American cinema that could be intelligent, original and politically provocative,” Fiennes said. He added that “the filmmaking world is smaller without him.”
Actors Antonio Banderas, Ethan Hawke and Rita Wilson shared their tributes on social media. To “Pain and Glory” star Banderas, Redford was “an icon of cinema in every sense” with talent that “will continue to move us forever, shining through the frames and in our memory.”
Hawke and Wilson, in their respective statements, lauded Redford for his commitment to environmental causes. The Santa Monica native lobbied for various environmental causes onscreen and off, including Native American rights, offshore oil drilling and global warming.
Since its founding in the ‘80s, Redford’s Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival called Utah’s Park City home. Park City Mayor Nann Worel said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) that Redford “changed the trajectory” of the popular ski destination.
“He brought world-class art to our mountains and introduced so many of us to the power of independent film. He was a maverick — unafraid to chart his own path — showing that ideas and creativity can flourish even amid our differences,” Worel said. “His legacy is both beautiful and profound, and one for which we all should be deeply grateful.”
Beginning in 2027, the Sundance Film Festival will move to Boulder, Colo., Sundance Institute board chair Ebs Burnough announced earlier this year. The Sundance Institute said in a statement its founder’s vision “has inspired generations of artists and redefined cinema in the U.S. and around the world.”
“We will miss his generosity, clarity of purpose, curiosity, rebellious spirit and his love for the creative process,” the statement said. “We are humbled to be among the stewards of his remarkable legacy, which will continue to guide the Institute in perpetuity.”
Colman Domingo, Stephen King, SAG-AFTRA and Directors Guild of America President Lesli Linka Glatter also paid tribute.
“He will be missed greatly,” publicist Berger said in her statement confirming Redford’s death. “The family requests privacy.”
Former Times staff writer Nardine Saad contributed to this report.
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