00:00We have some breaking news to bring you. The legendary actor Robert Redford, one of the
00:09biggest stars in Hollywood in the 1970s. He was also an activist known for his political activism
00:15as well. For his founding of the Sundance Film Festival too, we have just had it confirmed
00:20that Robert Redford has died. He was 89. He starred in some of the decade's biggest films
00:28in the 70s. And as I mentioned, he then became a director and also an activist, one of the
00:34most important figures in American film, not just as an actor, a director and an activist
00:40as a huge cultural influencer as well. Let's look back at his life with our arts correspondent
00:46David Solito.
00:47Seems amazing now, but at the time, America's leading critics really didn't like Butch and
00:53Sundance. But Hollywood didn't care. It was a huge hit and they had a new story.
00:58A star smelted out of pure box office gold. Robert Redford. Robert Redford had grown up
01:03in Los Angeles. He studied acting in New York and armed with weapons-grade good looks, began
01:09sweeping leading ladies off their feet. Who could complain? However, it seems you can be
01:15too good-looking.
01:16The performances I would give would sometimes be overcome by how I looked, how the critic
01:23would focus on that rather than more subtle things within the character. And that began
01:27to bother me. And then I realized that it was a bit of a cage and that it was really hard
01:32to get out of.
01:32And by the time of The Sting, another good-natured buddy movie with Paul Newman, he was keen for
01:38something dark and gnarly. Robert Redford didn't just star in All the President's Men. He had
01:43bought the rights to this tale of how the Watergate scandal was exposed. And he was a guiding
01:49hand through its progress to award-winning glory.
01:53And after that came a directing Oscar for Ordinary People. Hollywood loved him, but he wasn't
01:58too sure about Hollywood. He created the Sundance Film Festival and Sundance Labs to help nurture
02:04independent film.
02:05The mainstream cinema is pretty well obligated to finding as commercial a product as it can
02:12because of the money. And that's fine. We're not obligated that way. Because we're non-profit,
02:19we don't benefit financially from the film. So therefore, we just show what's out there
02:25and let the audience decide.
02:27In his late 70s, he returned to the big screen with All is Lost. It is just him and the sea.
02:33He barely says a word. A testament to that screen presence.
02:46Robert Redford. Actor, director, environmentalist. And of course, the Sundance Kid.
02:56Incredibly sad news coming to us about the death of Robert Redford. He was 89 years old.
03:11We have just received into the BBC a statement from his publicist, Cindy Berger, who is chairperson
03:18CEO of RNCNK. And she says, Robert Redford passed away on September the 16th, 2025 at his home at Sundance
03:28in the mountains of Utah. The place he loved, surrounded by those he loved. He will be missed
03:34greatly. The family requests privacy at this time. So just to repeat that statement, Robert
03:39Redford has passed away on September the 16th, 2025 at his home at Sundance in the mountains
03:44of Utah. The place he loved, surrounded by those that he loved. He will be missed greatly,
03:50and the family requests privacy.
03:52Robert Redford has passed away on September the 16th, 20th, 20th, 20th, 21st, 21st, 21st,
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