Robert Redford, 89, dies, a towering figure of American film whose work touched Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo.- Robert Redford, the actor and director who helped reshape American cinema as a leading man and the founder of the Sundance Institute, died at 89 at his home in Sundance, Utah.

Though he never won a competitive Academy Award for acting, Redford earned the Oscar for Best Director for Ordinary People and later received an Academy Honorary Award in recognition of his lifetime contribution to film.

Across a six-decade career he balanced star turns in studio classics with a persistent commitment to independent filmmakers; that mix of glamour and advocacy helped make Sundance a global launching pad.

One unexpected footnote in his filmography links Redford to the Dominican Republic: Sydney Pollack’s Havana (1990), starring Redford with Lena Olin and Alan Arkin, recreated 1950s Havana on locations and sets in Santo Domingo after political and logistical barriers prevented shooting in Cuba.