James, the activist son of Robert Redford, dies

James Redford, the third of Robert Redford's four children, has died at the age of 58.

It was his wife, Kylie Redford, who last Friday announced his death through a message on social networks, in which he did not specify the causes of death but suggests that he had been ill for at least the last two years.

“Jamie died today.

We are heartbroken.

He lived a beautiful and shocking life and was loved by many.

We will miss him deeply.

As his wife of 32 years, I am so thankful for the two wonderful children we raised together.

I don't know what we would have done without them in the last two years, "she wrote alongside a compilation of images of her husband and children.

Jamie died today.

We're heartbroken.

He lived a beautiful, impactful life & was loved by many.

He will be deeply missed.

As his wife of 32 yrs, I'm most grateful for the two spectacular children we raised together.

I don't know what we would've done w / o them over the past 2yrs.

pic.twitter.com/ynDN2jSZ04

- kyle redford (@kyleredford) October 16, 2020

James and Kylie Redford, whose relationship began in high school, are the parents of Lena and Dylan Redford, both with film careers.

Documentalist by profession and known for his activist work, in 2005 James founded with his father The Redford Center, a non-profit organization that produces documentaries to raise awareness about the environment and other causes for the planet, a passion shared by father and son.

Through this platform, James produced

(2017), a documentary about the dependence of the United States on fossil fuels, or

(2018), focused on the Colorado River and its delta, currently totally dry.

Born in New York in 1962 and graduated in Literature and Film from the University of Colorado, the defense of nature are not the only causes that motivated James Redford to launch into the production or direction of audiovisual works.

Also health problems.

He signed the film starring his son Dylan,

(2013) which is about dyslexia, and in 1999 he produced

a documentary about the drama of organ waiting lists;

something that he experienced when up to two livers were transplanted to survive the sclerosing cholangitis that was diagnosed at the age of 25.

That diagnosis made the disease the guiding line of James's life.

He had already marked an absence in the family: that of an older brother whom he never knew because he died suddenly at two and a half years of age.

When his son Dylan was born in 1991, James was so ill that he almost left his first-born with a hole similar to the one his late brother had left his parents.

In the end, the two transplants carried out in 1993 cured him, but the fury for filming all kinds of pathologies has accompanied him until the end of his days.

Until just a few years ago, James Redford has remained very active in his work as a screenwriter, director and producer, of films such as

and

.

Two documentaries about the biological damage that physical and emotional abuse can do to children also stand out:

, in 2014, and

, in 2016.

Robert Redford receives this sad news at 84 years old.

In 1959 the actor already lost his first son, Scott, born from his first marriage to Lola Van Wagenen.

Five months after he was born, Scott passed away from sudden death, a syndrome little known then and with which Robert suffered greatly.

But the actor and his wife decided to have more children, Shauna, James and Amy, all of them dedicated to the world of cinema.