Jane Fonda ‘Can't Stop Crying' Over Friend Robert Redford's Death

Jane Fonda had an emotional reaction to the news of Robert Redford's death.

"It hit me hard this morning when I read that Bob was gone. I can't stop crying," the actress, 87, shared in a statement to Us Weekly on Tuesday, September 16. "He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way. He stood for an America we have to keep fighting for."

News broke on Tuesday that Redford died at his home in Utah. According to a statement from his publicist Cindi Berger, shared via The New York Times, the actor died in his sleep. He was 89.

Redford is survived by his wife, Sibylle Szaggars, as well as his daughters Shauna, 64, and Amy, 54 - whom he shared with his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen - and seven grandchildren. (The exes also welcomed son James, who died from cancer in October 2020 at age 58, and son Scott who died of SIDS in 1959 when he was 2 months old.)

Fonda and Redford worked together on countless projects over the years. They first worked together in the 1960 film Tall Story, later appearing alongside Marlon Brando in the 1966 film The Chase and in Barefoot in the Park the following year. Fonda and Redford reunited a decade later for The Electric Horseman.

More recently, Fonda and Redford teamed up for the 2017 Netflix movie Our Souls at Night. The film was one of Redford's final leading roles before he stepped out of the spotlight. His last onscreen appearances were cameos in 2019's Avengers: Endgame and in 2025's Dark Winds.

Robert Redford and Jane FondaSilver Screen Collection/Getty Images

Fonda previously shared that she had a crush on Redford when they worked together, but she never pursued a romantic relationship.

"I was always in love with Robert Redford," she told the Guardian in 2015. "I made three films with him and nothing happened because I was married and he was married."

While Redford had no idea that Fonda had such strong feelings for him, the actor shared in a 2017 interview with Esquire that he and Fonda had a "very special relationship" that began early in their careers.

"It just clicks. Whatever her life was - which was all over the place - whatever my life was, when we came together, those things were forgotten," he explained. "We were just she and I working together. It didn't require a lot of analysis. It just fell into place."

Redford added that he "always admired" that Fonda was a "very strong woman."

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This story was originally published September 16, 2025 at 10:17 AM.