Robert Redford’s wife at the time of his death on September 16, 2025, was Sibylle Szaggars Redford — a German-born environmental artist who had been by his side for nearly three decades. But here’s the part most people don’t know: when they first met at his Sundance Mountain Resort in 1996, she had barely seen any of his films. That lack of Hollywood awareness? It’s precisely what drew him to her.

Before Sibylle, there was Lola Van Wagenen — Redford’s first wife, college sweetheart, and the mother of his four children. Their 27-year marriage spanned Redford’s entire rise from struggling actor to American cinema icon.

This is the full story of both women, the family they built, and the legacies that extend far beyond a famous last name.

Who Is Robert Redford’s Wife, Sibylle Szaggars?

Sibylle Szaggars was born on April 14, 1957, in Hamburg, Germany. Her childhood was anything but conventional. She traveled extensively through Europe, Morocco, and Malaysia with her family — experiences that would later fuel her artistic vision.

She launched her career in London, where she converted a warehouse into a studio and began organizing group exhibitions with fellow emerging artists. By the early 1990s, she had relocated to Utah, establishing her own painting studio and holding her first solo exhibition in 1991.

Her art defies easy categorization. Szaggars works across oil paintings, watercolors, photography, video, and large-scale performance installations — all united by an unwavering focus on the natural world. Her series depicting Moroccan villages and the Draa Valley helped establish her reputation as a serious environmental artist in the early 2000s.

Her crowning achievement: founding The Way of the Rain, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting environmental awareness through art. Conceived in 2013 as a multimedia performance piece integrating her signature “Rain Paintings” — watercolors partially created by actual rainfall — the project evolved into a full nonprofit in 2015. The performance has been staged at Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, and the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2016, the U.S. State Department selected her work for its Art in Embassies Program. Ten of her pieces are permanently displayed at the U.S. Embassy in Paramaribo, Suriname.

How Robert Redford and Sibylle Szaggars Met and Married

The story begins in 1996 at Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah. Szaggars arrived on a ski trip with friends and was invited to dinner with the resort’s famous owner. There was one problem: she wasn’t a film person. Opera, painting, Dali, Picasso — that was her world. She managed to watch only brief segments of a few Redford films rented from the Sundance reception desk before dinner.

Redford found this refreshing. “That’s one of the things that attracted me to her — she didn’t know much about me,” he later explained. “It was a wonderful beginning of a relationship, because it began as two human beings meeting each other.”

They dated for over twelve years. Quietly. Deliberately. In an industry obsessed with public spectacle, they chose privacy.

Redford confirmed their engagement to German magazine Bunte in 2008. On July 11, 2009, they married in an intimate ceremony at the Louis C. Jacob Hotel in Hamburg, Germany — Sibylle’s hometown. Roughly 30 family members and close friends attended.

Throughout their 16-year marriage, the couple made rare public appearances — Sundance Film Festival premieres, occasional charity galas, and a notable 2021 appearance at Prince Albert II of Monaco’s environmental award ceremony in Monte Carlo, among their last public outings together.

When Redford died at 89 in his beloved Sundance home, Sibylle was at his side.

Robert Redford’s First Wife: Lola Van Wagenen

Before Sibylle, there was Lola. The two met in the late 1950s when Redford was still a young, unknown art student. They married on August 9, 1958, in Las Vegas — years before anyone outside of their social circle knew Robert Redford’s name.

Their marriage would span 27 years and Redford’s entire transformation from theater hopeful to the biggest movie star in America. Four children. Countless relocations. The relentless pressure of fame.

They divorced in 1985. No scandal. No tabloid wars. Redford later reflected: “It was mutual and it was right to move on. We still have great love, great affection, great friendship.”

What happened to Lola Van Wagenen after the divorce is a story that rarely gets told — and it should.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from Vermont College in 1982, a master’s in public history from New York University in 1984, and a PhD in American history from NYU in 1994. Her doctoral dissertation was published in 2003 as Sister-Wives and Suffragists: Polygamy and the Politics of Woman Suffrage 1870–1896. She co-founded Consumer Action Now in 1970, one of the earliest environmental advocacy organizations, and later established Clio Visualizing History, Inc. in 1995 — a nonprofit focused on historical education through film.

In 2002, she married George Burrill, a diplomat and international development expert. She received the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 2012.

Lola Van Wagenen was never just “Robert Redford’s first wife.” She was — and remains — a formidable intellectual and activist in her own right.

Robert Redford’s Two Marriages Compared

Both of Redford’s marriages tell a different chapter of the same life. Here’s how they compare:

What’s striking is the thread that connects both relationships: environmentalism. Lola co-founded Consumer Action Now in 1970. Sibylle founded The Way of the Rain in 2015. The women Redford loved shared his deepest conviction — that protecting the natural world matters more than any movie role.

Robert Redford’s Children and Family Legacy

Redford and Lola Van Wagenen had four children together. The joy came with devastating loss.

Their firstborn, Scott Anthony Redford, died at just two and a half months old in November 1959 from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Redford was 21. Lola was 20. He rarely spoke about it publicly.

• Shauna Jean Redford (born 1960) — pursued a career in art and married journalist Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation. They have two children: Mica and Conor.
• David James “Jamie” Redford (born 1962) — became a filmmaker and activist who co-founded The Redford Center with his father in 2005. James died from bile-duct cancer on October 16, 2020, at age 58. His son Dylan now leads the organization.
• Amy Hart Redford (born 1970) — carved her own path as a filmmaker, directing feature films, television episodes, and music videos. She has three daughters.

At the time of Robert Redford’s death, he was survived by Sibylle, daughters Shauna and Amy, and seven grandchildren. The Sundance Institute and Film Festival — Redford’s most enduring cultural contribution — are expected to be stewarded by the next generation.

Robert Redford Relationship Timeline

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Robert Redford’s wife when he died?

Robert Redford’s wife at the time of his death on September 16, 2025, was Sibylle Szaggars Redford. They had been married since 2009 and together since 1996 — nearly 30 years.

How old is Sibylle Szaggars?

Sibylle Szaggars was born on April 14, 1957, in Hamburg, Germany. She is approximately 21 years younger than Redford, who was born in 1936.

How did Robert Redford meet his wife?

Redford and Szaggars met in 1996 when she visited his Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah on a ski trip with friends. She was largely unfamiliar with his film career, which Redford said attracted him because they could connect “as two human beings.”

Who was Robert Redford’s first wife?

Robert Redford’s first wife was Lola Van Wagenen, a historian and activist. They married in 1958 and divorced in 1985. Van Wagenen later earned a PhD in American History from NYU and married diplomat George Burrill in 2002.

How many children did Robert Redford have?

Redford had four children with his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen: Scott (died as an infant in 1959), Shauna (born 1960), James (born 1962, died 2020), and Amy (born 1970). He had no biological children with Sibylle Szaggars.

What does Sibylle Szaggars do for a living?

Sibylle Szaggars is a multimedia environmental artist whose work spans oil paintings, watercolors, photography, and large-scale performance installations. She founded The Way of the Rain nonprofit in 2015, and her art has been featured at Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, and through the U.S. State Department’s Art in Embassies Program.

What happened to Robert Redford’s son James?

James Redford, a filmmaker and environmental activist, died from bile-duct cancer on October 16, 2020, at age 58. He had co-founded The Redford Center with his father in 2005. His son Dylan now leads the organization.

Did Robert Redford and Sibylle Szaggars have children together?

No. The couple had no biological children together. Szaggars was a stepmother to Redford’s three surviving children from his first marriage — Shauna, James, and Amy — and a step-grandmother to his seven grandchildren.

A Legacy Beyond the Screen

Robert Redford’s life was defined by more than Oscars and box office records. It was shaped by two remarkable women who, each in their own way, shared his deepest values.

Lola Van Wagenen stood beside him during the hardest climb — building a career, raising a family, and enduring unimaginable loss. After their marriage ended, she built a distinguished life entirely her own.

Sibylle Szaggars found him at Sundance, not knowing she was meeting one of the most famous actors alive. That anonymity became the foundation of a love story that lasted nearly 30 years. Together, they channeled art and activism into something larger than fame.

Both women remind us that behind every Hollywood legend, there are real partnerships, real grief, and real love. Redford’s story is richer because of theirs.

Last modified: March 17, 2026