Who Are Robert Redford's Kids And The Tragedies That Struck Two Of Them

Hollywood is mourning the loss of industry legend Robert Redford. The multi-hyphenate died September 16, 2025, at the age of 89. With decades in front of the camera, Redford has left an indelible mark on the American film scene, leaving us with classics like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "All the President's Men." But according to the movie mogul himself, Redford's family was what he was most proud of during his lifetime.

In June 1998, Redford told People: "I've made some interesting movies, and I've been very satisfied with the work, but if someone wrapped it all up and said to me, 'What's your greatest achievement?' I'd say, 'The children. They're the best thing in my life.'" Redford married his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen, in 1958, and the couple went on to have four children before their 1985 divorce: Scott, Shauna, James, and Amy. Redford married his second wife Sibylle Szaggars in 2009, though they had no children together.

Health issues plagued the Redford family; the actor's oldest son died at only two months old, while his youngest son died of cancer in 2020. Redford leaves behind his two daughters, Shauna and Amy, who will carry on his creative legacy in their own respective ways — including their possible involvement in the Sundance Institute, which Redford founded in 1981. 

Robert Redford and Lola Van Wagenen welcomed their first child, Scott Anthony Redford, on September 1, 1959. The young couple sadly did not make it far into their new parenting roles, as Scott died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in November 1959, when he was a little more than two months old. The Mayo Clinic describes SIDS as an unexpected and inexplicable death of a baby under a year old, who generally seemed to be healthy. It is often referred to as "crib death" due to many of the fatal instances occurring when the child is in their crib.

The "Indecent Proposal" star seldom spoke about the family tragedy, but opened up to Esquire about his son's death in 2017. "I was only 21; my wife was 20. We were just starting our lives; I was just starting my career in New York," he said. "Of course it was traumatic, and how that plays out over time, I don't know." Though time helped distance Robert from the loss, he noted that the trauma likely lingered throughout his life. " ... it's pretty traumatic when it happens, particularly when you're that young," he added. "You're not equipped to deal with it."

Born on November 15, 1960, Shauna Redford is Robert Redford's and Lola Van Wagenen's second child and first daughter. Although she has never been in the film industry, like her legendary father, Shauna took after Robert's creative prowess and became a painter. Shauna graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1985, gaining a degree in art. While she has mostly stayed out of the public eye, Shauna was forced into the spotlight during her college years when her boyfriend, Sid Wells, was murdered in 1983. According to NBC, Shauna was called his "survivor, girlfriend and best friend" in his obituary. Robert reportedly even paused his work on the 1984 film "The Natural" to attend Wells' funeral with his daughter.

The eldest Redford daughter eventually moved on. She married acclaimed journalist Eric Schlosser — known for his eye-opening exposés about the food industry, including "Food, Inc." and "Fast Food Nation" — in 1985, at her parents' Provo, Utah home (via The New York Times). The couple has since welcomed two children, Mica and Conor, who both work in creative industries. Mica works in the copywriting and illustration field, according to Newsweek. Her brother, Conor, per his LinkedIn, has experience in production, including time spent at the Sundance Institute.

Conor's grandfather must have been proud, seeing as his goal was to pass Sundance down to his descendants. In 2018, Robert told The Salt Lake Tribune: "I've been spending a lot of time bringing my children — Shauna and Amy and Jamie — into the picture, and now they're there and they're in a position to run the show." Now it seems his grandchild is also capable of holding the reins.

Robert Redford's youngest son, James Redford, was a film industry bigwig in his own right. James — who was born May 5, 1962 and was known to most as Jamie — focused his career on mostly documentary filmmaking. He is credited on works such as "The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia" and "Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution." In 1998, James produced "The Kindness of Strangers," a film inspired by the organ donation process, something he experienced himself at a young age.

James began having misdiagnosed health issues as a teen, but was eventually, and correctly, diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis — a disease that damages the bile ducts in your liver, according to the Mayo Clinic — that forced him to undergo two liver transplants in 1993, per the American Society of Transplantation. His transplant experience led him to create the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness in 1995. Unfortunately, his liver disease came back in 2018. Then, while on the transplant list in 2019, it was discovered that James had bile duct cancer, per The Salt Lake Tribune. On October 16, 2020, Robert's son passed away at the age of 58.

James left behind his wife, Kyle Redford, daughter Lena Redford, and son Dylan Redford, who turned out to be the spitting image of his late grandfather. Kyle announced her husband's death on X, formerly Twitter, writing: "Jamie died today. We're heartbroken. He lived a beautiful, impactful life & was loved by many. He will be deeply missed." Cindi Berger, a spokesperson for James' movie star father, told People at the time: "The grief is immeasurable with the loss of a child."

Like her brother, James Redford, Amy Redford followed in her father's filmmaking footsteps. Born October 22, 1970, Amy is Robert Redford's and Lola Van Wagenen's youngest. She and her siblings spent their childhoods in both New York and Utah, and she's had majority good things to say about Robert as a father. "I am able to talk to my dad in a way a lot of people can't," she told The New York Times in 2008. She continued, "he still drives me nuts, he's still my dad, but I have to say, in light of what his universe was, he had his eye on the ball in terms of having kids, and part of that was being raised in Manhattan." Amy was married twice; first to Mark Mann from 2000 to 2004. Then in 2008, she married Matt August, an L.A.-based theater director, and they share three daughters. While she hasn't directly addressed her divorce from August, Amy confirmed she was a single parent in an interview with Ageist in 2022.

Like her dad, Amy is an accredited actor, producer, and director. Some of her work includes an acting credit in the 2008 Amy Adams and Emily Blunt film "Sunshine Cleaning," as well as her directorial debut with "The Guitar" the same year. Of course, her biggest influence for her foray into the industry was the man who raised her. "As a kid I witnessed the process of my dad [Robert Redford] making films and the extraordinary cast of characters that came together to make it happen ... " she told IndieWire in 2008. "I found myself drawn to the nomadic and creative life that that implied."