Robert Redford, the legendary actor known for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “Out of Africa,” has died at 89. As fans remember his extraordinary career, many are also reflecting on Robert Redford’s wife, Sibylle Szaggars Redford, who shared his life for nearly three decades and stood by his side until his final days.
Robert Redford’s Wife: His Love Story with Sibylle Szaggars
Andreas Rentz/Getty ImagesRedford first met Szaggars in 1996 at his Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah. At the time, Sibylle admitted she knew very little about the Hollywood star, a fact Redford later said drew him to her.
“It was a wonderful beginning of a relationship, because it began as two human beings meeting each other and finding a connection as two human beings, rather than being colored by success,” he told AARP The Magazine.
The couple dated for more than a decade before marrying in July 2009 at the Louis C. Jacob Hotel in Hamburg, Germany. Redford wore a white suit, while Sibylle chose a champagne-hued gown for the private ceremony, according to People.
Although they never had children together, Sibylle became stepmother to Redford’s children from his first marriage to historian Lola Van Wagenen.
Redford and Van Wagenen had two daughters: Shauna Jean, born in 1960, and Amy Hart, born in 1970.
They also had two sons: Scott Anthony, who died of SIDS just two months after his birth in 1959, and James, who died at age 58 from liver cancer in October 2020.
Sibylle Szaggars’ Work as an Environmental Artist
For over 40 years, Szaggars has established herself as an internationally recognized multimedia artist. Her work spans oil painting, photography, and performance art, with exhibitions across Europe, Monaco, Peru, Singapore, Japan, and the United States, per her website.
She began sketching and painting as a child during her family travels, drawing inspiration from indigenous cultures and ancient landscapes. In the mid-1990s, she created a Buffalo series that highlighted environmental threats.
“I used the American Buffalo as a symbol for vanishing life,” she told Big Life Magazine.
“From the beginning of my career as an artist, nature was the force that inspired me to be an activist from within my art,” she added.
Her art often reflects themes of environmental conservation, a passion she shared with Redford throughout their marriage.
Redford often described Sibylle as a “very special person” who gave him “a whole new life.” Their marriage was marked by mutual respect, creativity, and a shared devotion to protecting the environment.
Redford’s legacy continues not only through his films but also through The Redford Center, the nonprofit he co-founded with his late son James to produce environmental impact projects.
