All About Robert Redford's Wife, Sibylle Szaggars

On Tuesday, September 16, 2025, award-winning actor and director Robert Redford sadly passed away at his home in Utah. He is survived by his children from his first marriage and his second wife, Sibylle Szaggars Redford. While Sibylle, whom Robert affectionately called "Billy," isn't a Hollywood star, she is a big name in the art world, known for blending art with environmental activism.

Her story began in Hamburg, Germany, where she was born and raised alongside her sister. From an early age, Sibylle showed a passion for creativity and even designed a new wallpaper for her family's living room, but she never attended art school. "My parents were somewhat conservative, and my father thought that a young woman at that time should know how to earn some money and be serious about it, just in case she needed to be independent," she shared in a 2014 interview with the National YoungArts Foundation (now only known as YoungArts), following the launch of her multimedia presentation titled "The Way of the Rain."

So, instead of art school, Sibylle studied business and eventually landed a job working for Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. "It was all about creating musicals, but I was in the financial part," she explained. "I didn't create them, I raised the money." By the late 1980s, Sibylle was tired of working in finance. At that point, she was already painting on the weekends, and though many people view art as just a part-time hobby you can take up to improve your mental health, Sibylle wanted more than a short-term commitment. "I decided I want to take a year off and just paint," she said. This decision led to her moving from Europe to the United States on what was supposed to be a one-year hiatus. Instead, she would eventually meet Robert Redford and stay stateside.

In 1987, Sibylle Szaggars Redford paused her life in Europe and set off for the U.S. She traveled to the Four Corners region, where she fell in love with the scenery and landscape. "I tried to capture that on canvas, and I realized I was more and more interested in paint," she recalled during her 2014 National YoungArts Foundation interview. "So I painted landscapes, which were quite abstract." Not long after, Sibylle's path crossed with Robert Redford's at his ski resort in Utah. "I knew of him. I had seen Jeremiah Johnson — one of my favorite films — and Barefoot in the Park," she said. But meeting him in person opened the door to a relationship, as, despite their 21-year age difference, they discovered their shared love for art and the environment.

Sibylle soon stumbled on his collection of Hopi kachina dolls — small, carved figures created by the Hopi people that are believed to embody spirits — which fascinated her. "I had never known anything like that before, and so I was really interested," she added in her interview. After learning more about the Hopi people, she decided to visit them.

The Hopi people, who also created the iconic space buns hairstyle worn by Princess Leia (played by Carrie Fisher) in "Star Wars," are known for their unique culture, and Sibylle was determined to learn more. During her 2014 interview with the gallery, she shared her first encounter with a Hopi elder and his wife: "This elder, who was in his 80s, and his wife, who was in her 70s, obviously wanted to know a lot about me, especially the fact that I was from Germany. At first, they were suspicious, but I think they somehow fell in love with me, especially his wife." From there, her interest in them only grew.

As Sibylle Szaggars Redford gained the trust of the Hopi people, she was introduced to the female artists in the community. Beyond being fascinated by their art, she was enthralled by their way of life. "It's a very female-oriented society; the women own everything," she said in the 2014 chat with the National YoungArts Foundation. "I guess maybe that's why I'm so attracted to them," she explained with a laugh. She also admired their dedication to the environment, adding, "They call themselves the keepers of the earth." After two months, Sibylle left the Hopi people, inspired to blend her art with activism for the environment.

In 2008, Sibylle and Robert Redford announced their engagement, and the following year, they married in Hamburg, Germany, before returning to their home in the U.S. The couple kept much of their life private, which must have helped solidify their bond since it's well-known that keeping your relationship issues off social media is key. And though the two didn't share children, they shared values and collaborated on several creative projects over the years. 

By 2013, Sibylle had teamed up with a composer and musician to create "The Way of the Rain," a performance blending music, dance, film, light, and spoken word, all presented on a stage Sibylle designed to mimic rainfall. "Basically, it's telling the story of the creation of Earth and the phases this beautiful planet is going through," she explained to the local Utah news source KSL.com. Two years later, she established a nonprofit foundation of the same name, dedicated to supporting artists and raising awareness for environmental care. Since then, Sibylle has continued producing short films and similar productions that weave her love for art with her advocacy for the planet.