Robert Redford is one of the most iconic actors out there, having risen to fame on the back
of such films as All the President’s Men, The Sting, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid.
As well, the actor ventured out into directing later in his career, a feat that greatly increased
his artistic profile.
Despite the immense success that Robert demands in the industry, he has led a troubled personal
life with numerous tragedies.
Join Facts Verse as we explore the devastating death of Robert Redford’s two sons.
Audiences will likely know Robert Redford from his roles in numerous films, but fewer
people know about the prestigious actor and filmmaker’s personal life.
Robert has been married twice during his lifetime, and he is also the proud father of four children.
Sadly, two of these children have died tragic deaths.
Robert shares his children with his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen.
Robert and Lola married all the way back in 1958, and they gave birth to their first son
shortly after, in September of 1959.
The two were incredibly happy to have become parents, but tragedy was just around the corner.
Robert and Lola’s first child was named Scott.
Less than three months after Scott’s birth, the young child passed away from what is known
as “sudden infant death syndrome”, or “SIDS”.
SIDS remains an incredibly mysterious occurrence, and the new parents were both shocked and
devastated upon finding their newborn baby passed away in his crib.
Despite the fact that the event took a major toll on both Robert and his wife, the two
persevered and managed to make their relationship stay strong.
After the death of Scott, Robert and Lola successfully tried again at being parents.
After Scott’s death at the end of 1959, the infant was buried at Provo City Cemetery
in Provo, Utah.
Robert kept the death of his firstborn son a secret for a while, with him simply believing
that it wasn’t the public’s business.
Robert and Lola quickly set their grief aside and made a second bid together to become parents,
giving birth to their second child in 1960.
Their second child was a daughter, named Shauna.
Robert and Lola were understandably worried during the early months of Shauna’s life
due to the experience that they had with their first child.
Thankfully, Shauna ended up growing into a healthy young girl.
Following Shauna’s birth, Robert and Lola gave birth to a third child: James.
James was born in 1962.
Several years later, Robert and Lola decided that it was time to add a new addition to
their family in the form of second daughter Amy.
Amy was born in 1970.
Robert Redford had been struggling to make a name for himself throughout the 1960s and
caught a big break when he received the titular role of “the Sundance Kid” in Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid.
By the time of Amy’s birth in 1970, Robert was at the top of the world.
Following the birth of his fourth and final child, Robert would quickly rise to become
one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
In 1974, he had another hit starring alongside Paul Newman, who was his Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid costar.
That film was The Sting, and it became an even bigger success than the pair’s first
outing together.
Sadly, they never made another film together, though they remained great friends.
In 1976, Robert starred in All the President’s Men, which further solidified the actor as
a dramatic star to be reckoned with in Hollywood.
Several years later, the actor branched out into directing with 1980’s Ordinary People.
The film was a major success, and Robert became one of the only people in history to win an
Academy Award for Best Director for his debut feature.
The film also won many other awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Robert certainly came into the 1980s at the top of his game, but his marriage was crumbling
amidst his increasing fame.
Robert and Lola’s youngest child was entering her double digits, and the couple found themselves
less interested in each other than ever before.
Robert was spending more and more time away from the family due to his expanding career,
and the couple eventually decided to call it quits on their marriage in 1985.
Still, they maintained a close friendship and continued to co-parent their children
together.
Despite the fact that Robert and Lola’s three children besides Scott grew into adults,
one of them ended up dying a tragic death just recently.
Because of this, Robert has had to watch two of his children pass away, which is something
that no parent should have to do.
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After Robert Redford and Lola Van Wagenen’s divorce in 1985, the former couple continued
to stay on terms so that they could watch their three remaining children grow up together
amicably.
Despite the fact that one of these children has recently passed away, all three went on
to make their father very proud in different ways.
Two of Robert’s children even grew up in their father’s Hollywood footsteps.
First daughter Shauna is the only of the three children that didn’t grow up to follow in
Robert’s footsteps, but she did become a talented artist in her own right.
As well, she followed in her father’s footsteps in a different way by becoming a painter.
Although Robert has certainly been better known for his work as an actor and filmmaker,
he has always had a passion for painting, having studied it in Florence, Italy, when
he was just a young man.
While 1985 marked the year of her parent’s divorce, it also coincidentally happened to
mark the year of Shauna’s marriage.
Shauna married a man by the name of Eric Schlosser, and the two are still currently together.
Not only that, but Shauna has since given birth to two children of her own, whose names
are Conor and Mica.
These two grandchildren have grown to love their grandpa Robert, and he has grown to
love them very much in return.
James is the second of Robert and Lola’s four children to have made it into adulthood,
as well as the couple’s second son overall.
Sadly, James is also the second of Robert and Lola’s children to have passed away.
However, the man went on to lead a long life before his recent death.
James ended up following in his father’s footsteps by becoming a director, directing
several award-winning documentary television programs and films with an emphasis on global
warming, which is a topic his father is also passionate about.
Some of James’ work includes 2017’s Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution, as well as 2013’s
Toxic Hot Seat.
Before his recent death, James also married and had two kids, just like his older sister.
James married his spouse, Kyle, in 1988, and the two went on to have two kids: Dylan and
Lena.
Just as with Shauna’s kids, Robert has grown to have a very close relationship with James’
two children.
Amy was the fourth and last of Robert and Lola’s children, and she followed in her
father’s footsteps even more so than James.
In addition to becoming a director herself, Amy is also a producer and an actress.
Amy made her acting debut in 1998’s Dellaventura before appearing in 1999’s Giving It Up.
Perhaps more notably, she featured in an episode of the hit HBO drama series The Sopranos.
In addition to her Hollywood career, Amy also has a daughter.
Amy’s only child is shared with her partner, who is a man by the name of Matt August.
Previously, Amy had been married to a man by the name of Mark Mann, from 2000 until
2004.
Besides the films and television programs that Amy has appeared in, she has also directed
a feature film by the name of The Guitar.
The Guitar premiered at Robert Redford’s own Sundance Film Festival.
Amy also produced the film.
Sadly, The Guitar wasn’t met with incredibly great critical reception, and Amy has yet
to release another feature film as a director.
However, she has released several short films and appears to have a new feature in production,
which is titled Phoenix.
October of 2020 is when James passed away, marking the second death of a child that Robert
Redford has had to experience during his lifetime.
James was 58 years old at the time and had recently celebrated his father’s 84th birthday
with him.
James had been battling liver cancer for several years before eventually succumbing.
Kyle survived him, in addition to the two children that the couple had shared.
Robert Redford had celebrated his 84th birthday a mere two months before the death of his
second and last remaining son.
In addition to James, Robert’s other kids, as well as his grandchildren and his second
wife, joined the actor for his celebration.
Robert’s second wife is a woman by the name of Sibylle Szaggars, and the two got married
in 2009.
Since Robert’s role in the 2018 feature The Old Man & the Gun, the actor and director
have essentially been retired.
However, he did come out of retirement for a very brief period to reprise his role in
the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame.
Robert was reprising the role that he had played previously in Captain America: The
Winter Soldier.
Although it’s possible that Robert’s brief turn in Avengers: Endgame could prove to be
his last work on film, many close to Robert are optimistic that the actor could come out
of retirement again if given the right project down the line.
Nowadays, Robert Redford greatly prefers practicing paintings in retirement to directing and acting
in big Hollywood films.
Comment down below to share if you think that Robert Redford should come out of retirement,
or if you were saddened to learn that the legendary filmmaker has had to witness the
death of both of his two sons.
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