Robert Redford's death: a look back at the tragic untimely deaths of his two sons

Robert Redford died on Tuesday September 16 at the age of 89. During his lifetime, he experienced every parent's nightmare: the death of two of his four children, Scott and James.

 

Actor and director Robert Redford passed away today, Tuesday September 16, at the age of 89. Known the world over for his films Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The President's Men (1976), The Three Days of the Condor (1975) and The Sting (1973), he was also a renowned environmental activist and philanthropist. His death plunges not only the 7th art world into mourning, but also his family, in particular his two daughters Shauna (65) and Amy (55).

 

In fact, Robert Redford had four children, all from his former marriage to historian Lola Van Wagenen. Sadly, his first son Scott died two and a half months after birth from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. This death has remained a particularly sensitive and painful subject for the actor. In 2017, he agreed to talk about this past in the columns of the American magazine “Esquire”.

 

"I was only 21 and my wife was 20. We were just starting our lives, and I was beginning my career in New York. Of course, it was traumatic, and I didn't know how it would evolve over time. We had to deal with it. You have to move on. And we had other children. But this kind of thing leaves its mark. It probably manifests itself in tiny ways that we're not even aware of."

 

Sixty years later, Robert Redford once again faced the death of one of his children. In 2020, his second son David James succumbed to liver cancer diagnosed years earlier. At the time, the actor was 84 and living with painter Sybille Szaggars, his partner since 1996 and his wife since their 2009 wedding in Hamburg.

 

In the wake of this tragic death, Robert Redford's grandchildren reacted on Instagram: "My father died on Friday. He was really special and I'm really sad. My dad really loved his life. A lady said to me recently ‘Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened’ and I wanted to punch her in the face. But she's not entirely wrong! I'm able to smile because my dad made me laugh so much. I feel very lucky. He loved me and my brother so much. [...] I love my mom and my brother and my dad forever," wrote Lena Redford (30).

 

His older brother Dylan (34) also said, "He was my best friend, my mentor, my collaborator, and most importantly, my father. I think I may have been the luckiest son in the world."