Robert Redford is an accomplished actor, director and activist who’s been making waves in the entertainment industry since the 1950s, which means he’s had an incredible career that’s lasted over six decades! In fact, the Hollywood heartthrob only recently retired from his successful career.

Born Charles Robert Redford, Jr. on Aug. 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, the actor turned 85 in 2021. Growing up in California, Robert had plenty of opportunities to make connections and become friends with people who were also in the spotlight or who would later be in it themselves. He wasn’t the best student, but he made it a point to follow his passions and pursue them professionally.

After getting his start on Broadway, Robert moved to bigger and better things with countless roles in both film and television. While his success wasn’t instant, Robert knew to keep working hard and persevering, and eventually, in the 1960s, he began to pick up role after role.

The actor showed his versatility across many different types of films, including action, drama and romance movies. Not wanting to be type-cast, he even made a choice to turn down some roles, including parts in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “The Graduate.”

This led him to land one of the biggest jobs in his career in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” in 1969. The film helped people to view Robert as not just the pretty blonde man on screen but also as someone who had layers and was intelligent and cynical. It also catapulted him to fame.

Read on to learn more about Robert’s career, personal life, and the loss of his two sons.

Robert Redford (1960), (Herbert Dorfman/Corbis/Getty Images)

The 1970s were great for Robert’s career and he had no problem finding critically successful roles. He became a box-office star and continued to push himself as an actor. He joined the cast of “All the President’s Men” in 1976 and even worked as an executive producer for the film. The movie was a hit and received an abundance of award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards, and took home the award for Best Screenplay.

Nominated for a handful of awards throughout his career, Robert won his first award in 1966 when he took home the Golden Globe for New Star of the Year: Actor for his work in “Inside Daisy Clover.” He later won the Academy Award for Best Director in 1980 for his work on “Ordinary People,” which was actually the first film he worked on as a director. Robert’s most recent recognition was in 2019, when he won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Morelia International Film Festival for his artistic excellence.

While his long filmography is where Robert built his career, some of his more recent projects are just as impressive as his trademark roles. He played Alexander Pierce in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” in 2014 and later reprised his role in “Avengers: Endgame” in 2017, although the movie wasn’t released until 2019. Redford retired in 2020, with no new credits or mention of future work since.

On top of a storied acting and filmmaking career, Robert was also able to find love and happiness in his personal life. He married his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen, in 1958. They had four children in total, including daughters Shauna Redford and Amy Redford, as well as two sons, Scott Redford and James Redford.

Jamie Redford, Robert Redford (2006), (Fred Hayes/WireImage/Getty Images)

In 1959, when Scott was just 10-weeks-old, he passed away from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. SIDS was not a well-known issue at the time, and the loss of a child was devastating for the family.

Robert shared: “It was really hard. We were very young. I had my first theater job, which didn’t pay much. We didn’t know anything about sudden infant death syndrome so as a parent you blame yourself. It creates a scar that never completely heals.”

After his second son, James, was born prematurely and faced a life-threatening respiratory problem, Robert and Lola were really struggling. James would recover from his respiratory issues but went on to suffer from ulcerative colitis as a teen. “The hardest thing is when your children have problems. There have been so many hits on our family no one knows about and I don’t want them to for my family’s sake,” said the actor.

As an adult, James required multiple liver transplants and passed away from liver cancer in 2020. Robert’s publicist, Cindi Berger, said in a statement: “The grief is immeasurable with the loss of a child. Jamie (James) was a loving son, husband and father. His legacy lives on through his children, art, filmmaking and devoted passion to conservation and the environment.”

James’s wife, Kyle Redford, posted a message on Twitter in 2020 announcing her husband’s passing. She wrote: “Jamie died today. We’re heartbroken. He lived a beautiful, impactful life & was loved by many. He will be deeply missed. As his wife of 32 yrs, I’m most grateful for the two spectacular children we raised together. I don’t know what we would’ve done w/o them over the past 2yrs.”

Robert Redford (2020), (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images)

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