'One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace my lovely friend'

Streep leads tributes

- By Matt Nixson

ROBERT Redford, the golden boy of Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s, has died at the age of 89.

The star of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men and countless other box office hits that became cultural touchstones, died in his sleep in the early hours of yesterday at his Utah ranch.

Tributes poured in for the screen idol who became a crusader, led by one of his costars Meryl Streep, who said: "One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace my lovely friend."

Redford was a big-screen charmer who refused to be defined by his looks, later becoming an Oscar-winning director. He drew on his celebrity to espouse environmental causes, liberal activism and independent filmmaking.

His publicist Cindi Berger said: "Robert Redford passed away on September 16 at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah - the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved. He will be missed greatly." Despite being one of Tinseltown’s go-to leading men for decades, his body of work more than 70 films never typecast him and he remained a sometimes reluctant star.

Romantic roles saw him paired with leading ladies including Jane Fonda in Barefoot in the Park (1967), Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were (1973) and Meryl Streep in 1985's Out of Africa.

Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis wrote: "A life! Family. Art. Transformation. Advocacy. Creation. Legacy. Thank you Robert Redford."

Director Ron Howard described Redford as "a tremendously influential cultural figure" and an "artistic game changer".

Bestselling horror author Stephen King said: "Hard to believe he was 89."

With his tousled blond hair, blue eyes and boyish smile, the studios sold him as a sex symbol and he wryly complained in 1974: "This glamour image can be a real handicap."