Meryl Streep mourns Out of Africa costar Robert Redford after his death at 89

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Meryl Streep is saddened by the passing of Robert Redford, her former colleague, who died this week at 89 years old.

Meryl Streep, age 76, and the late director Sydney Pollack acted together in the 1985 romantic drama, *Out of Africa*.

Redford passed away in his sleep on Tuesday at his home in Utah.

Meryl honored him with a heartfelt message to Deadline, saying, ‘A true legend is gone. Rest peacefully, dear friend.’

With a career spanning 60 years, Redford was last seen on the big screen 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.

Fans were surprised to see him make a brief appearance in the first episode of Dark Winds’ third season, which aired in early 2024.

I recently had the incredible experience of filming a really gripping scene with George R.R. Martin! We played chess as our characters, both of us behind bars – it was a tense moment, to say the least, and really brought our characters’ situation to life. It was amazing to collaborate with him on such a pivotal scene.

Oh my gosh, you won’t BELIEVE this! The legend himself – he’s, like, eighty years young! – he asked for the set to be completely closed off when *he* was filming his part. And not only is he an amazing actor, but he was also one of the producers! It was so important to him to have complete privacy during that scene, it was incredible.

Robert prematurely announced his retirement from acting in 2018.

I remember reading an interview with him seven years ago where he seemed to be hinting at retirement. He said something along the lines of, ‘Never say never,’ but he’d pretty much decided this would be his last acting role, as he’d been doing it since he was just 21. It felt like a real goodbye at the time.

He decided he’d had enough and wanted to finish with a cheerful, optimistic project, potentially his last role in ‘The Old Man & The Gun,’ he said.

However, just four weeks later, he changed his mind. He told Variety that announcing his retirement had ‘been a mistake’.

He admitted he shouldn’t have made that statement. He explained that if he ever decided to retire, he’d prefer to do so privately, without making a public announcement, as he believes talking about it creates unnecessary and unwanted focus.

‘I want to be focused on this film and the cast.’ 

After a well-publicized mistake, Redford shifted his focus to producing films. In 2019, he was an executive producer on the critically acclaimed Sundance Film Festival selection, *The Mustang*.

He went on to do voiceover work in 2020’s Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia.

He appeared briefly in the 2023 HBO series *White House Plumbers*, playing the same role – journalist Bob Woodward – that he famously portrayed in *All the President’s Men*.

Robert Redford, a veteran actor who began his career in his early twenties, won an Academy Award for Best Director in 1980 for the film *Ordinary People*.

Leonardo DiCaprio was another A-lister who remembered the beloved filmmaker on Tuesday.

He posted a black and white photo of Robert Redford on Instagram, captioning it with a description of the actor as an activist, dedicated environmentalist, and supporter of the arts.

He was not only incredibly talented, but also deeply dedicated to protecting the environment and motivating others. His work will continue to make a difference for many years to come.

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2025-09-17 03:18