The ‘Best Thing’ This Hollywood Legend Did as a Dad, According to His Daughter

Published: January 21, 2026

By India McCarty

Amy Redford, daughter of acclaimed actor Robert Redford, recently shared the “best thing” her father did for her and her siblings.

“You know, he was playful and curious and kind, and I think what he taught us to do is really find the thing that we’re most passionate about and the things we think might be able to change the world,” she said in an interview with TODAY.

Amy added, “The best thing I think he did for my family was raise us between New York City and the mountains of Sundance, because we got to live between the city and in natural law, and taught us a very strong value of stewardship. So, you know, that’s something that I think all of us bring to the table to this day.”

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Redford died last year at the age of 89.

In addition to his work as an actor, Redford was also instrumental in the establishment of the Sundance Film Festival, which grew from the actor’s Sundance Institute film lab for aspiring directors.

“We started this with no rigid expectations…I have no idea what this will turn out to be,” he said in a 1981 interview, referring to the filmmakers he had invited to attend the Sundance Institute’s Filmmakers’ Lab. “I know that it’s getting increasingly hard to get a movie well distributed in this country unless it has the potential to make millions of dollars.”

In a statement released after his passing, the Sundance Institute shared, “Bob’s vision of a space and a platform for independent voices launched a movement that, over four decades later, has inspired generations of artists and redefined cinema in the U.S. and around the world. Beyond his enormous contributions to culture at large, we will miss his generosity, clarity of purpose, curiosity, rebellious spirit, and his love for the creative process. We are humbled to be among the stewards of his remarkable legacy, which will continue to guide the Institute in perpetuity.”

This year’s festival, the first since Redford’s passing, will be held in honor of the actor. Notably, it is also the last time Sundance will take place in Park City before it moves to Boulder.

“The legacy and the tradition of Sundance will continue no matter where it is,” director Gregg Araki, who attended the festival several times, told AP News.

As the movie industry prepares to mark the first Sundance without Redford, they are remembering his legacy, both onscreen and off.

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