James Redford, the beloved activist, filmmaker, and the son of Hollywood icon Robert Redford, died from liver cancer at 58.
Kyle Redford, his wife, confirmed her husband’s death on Twitter Monday.
Mrs. Redford wrote, “We’re heartbroken. She said he lived a beautiful, impactful life and was loved by many. He will be deeply missed. As his wife for 32 years, I’m most grateful for the two spectacular children we raised together. I don’t know what we would’ve done [without] them over the past 2 [years].”
He died of bile duct cancer diagnosed in November 2019 as he was waiting for a liver transplant, Kyle Redford told The Salt Lake Tribune.
James Redford had struggled with health since childhood; people reported and received two liver transplants in 1993. After that, he founded the nonprofit James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness, designed to educate and draw attention to the need for tissue and organ donation.
“With Jamie came to love and contagious joy,” the institute’s executive director, Jill Tidman, wrote in a statement mourning the loss of “our co-founder, our inspiration and our friend” on Instagram. “He approached everything he did with kindness and warmth, and an openness that spread itself easily among others.”
His film company called him “a light in this world who used his time and talent to raise social issues to the forefront through world-class documentary filmmaking” and his “ability to lead, to create, to care with kindness, fairness and an authentic style that embodied trust and confidence.”
His documentary film work often focused on the intersection of environment and health. He was also directed “Where the Past Begins,” a PBS documentary tracing the immigrant journey of author Amy Tan, Kyle Redford told The Salt Lake Tribune.
According to People, James was the son of Robert Redford and then-wife Lola Van Wagenen, the third of four children the couple had. Scott died at age two months, in 1959, from sudden infant death syndrome, People said. Other siblings include Shauna, 59, and Amy, who turns 50 on Thursday, People said.
