Robert Redford, Oscar-winning actor and Sundance founder, dies at 89

Robert Redford, the Oscar winning actor, director and founder of the Sundance Institute who helped create a global platform for independent film, died at his home in Utah on Tuesday morning, his longtime publicist, Cindi Berger, said. Berger said Redford died in his sleep; she did not provide a cause of death and asked for privacy for the family. One report said the family had confirmed his passing a day earlier, a discrepancy officials and outlets were still reconciling.

Redford was 89 and had been a defining presence in American cinema for more than half a century, moving fluidly between high-profile acting roles, award-winning directing and long-term advocacy for both the independent film community and environmental causes. He rose to international fame in the late 1960s and 1970s with landmark turns in films including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Way We Were, The Great Gatsby, The Candidate, Jeremiah Johnson and All the President’s Men. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for Ordinary People in 1980 and later received an honorary Academy Award in recognition of his lifetime achievements.

Beyond his on-screen career, Redford reshaped the film...