Meryl Streep is mourning the loss of her former co-star Robert Redford, who died this week at the age of 89.
The 76-year-old Devil Wears Prada star and the late filmmaker starred opposite each other in the 1985 romance-drama Out of Africa.
Redford passed away in his sleep on Tuesday at his home in Utah.
Meryl paid tribute to him in a statement shared with Deadline: ‘One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace my lovely friend.’
With a career spanning 60 years, Redford was last seen on the big screen 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
And he shocked fans when he made a cameo in the season three premiere of the Western thriller Dark Winds in early 2024.
Meryl Streep is mourning the loss of her former co-star Robert Redford, who died this week at the age of 89; pictured in 2018
Meryl paid tribute to him in a statement shared with Deadline : ‘One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace my lovely friend’; pictured in 2007
He joined George R. R. Martin for a tense scene in which their incarcerated characters play a game of chess while serving out their time in prison.
The seasoned octogenarian actor, who was also an executive producer on the series, at the time requested a closed set to film the segment.
Robert prematurely announced his retirement from acting in 2018.
‘Never say never, but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting, and [I’ll] move towards retirement after this ’cause I’ve been doing it since I was 21,’ Us Weekly reported him saying seven years ago.
‘I thought, “Well, that’s enough.” And why not go out with something that’s very upbeat and positive?’ he explained while referring to what he thought might be his final role in The Old Man & The Gun.
But just four weeks later he backtracked the statement, admitting to Variety that it ‘was a mistake’ to declare his retirement.
‘I should never have said that,’ he confessed, adding, ‘If I’m going to retire, I should just slip quietly away from acting, but I shouldn’t be talking about it because I think it draws too much attention in the wrong way.
‘I want to be focused on this film and the cast.’
The 76-year-old Devil Wears Prada star and the late filmmaker starred opposite each other in the 1985 romance-drama Out of Africa
The longtime friends pictured in 2008
With a career spanning 60 years, Redford was last seen on the big screen 2019’s Avengers: Endgame; pictured left with Meryl and Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer on set in 1985
In the years since his flub, Redford concentrated on executive producing, and in 2019 he was behind the successful Sundance Film Festival film The Mustang.
He went on to do voiceover work in 2020’s Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia.
And he made a VOX cameo in 2023’s HBO series White House Plumbers, reprising his All the President’s Men role as journalist Bob Woodward.
Among his many accolades, Redford, who had been acting since his early twenties, earned a Best Director Oscar win in 1980 for Ordinary People.
Leonardo DiCaprio was another A-lister who remembered the beloved filmmaker on Tuesday.
Sharing a black and white image of Redford on Instagram, he wrote, ‘Actor, activist, passionate environmentalist, and champion of the arts.
‘His unwavering commitment to protecting our planet and inspiring change matched his immense talent. His impact will endure for generations to come.’
