The Oscar-winning actor and director died this week at his home in Sundance, Utah, aged 89, and his former neighbours have opened up about his inner torment in his final years as they recalled how he struggled to come to terms with the death of his boy.
Redford, born on 18 August 1936, lived for several years in the town of Tiburon in California's Bay Area with his wife, Sibylle Szaggars, 68.
Locals have told the Daily Mail even though the actor was warm and gracious, he was also marked by grief following the death of his son James in 2020.
A waiter at a bayside restaurant told the Mail: "He was one of my best customers and he came weekly.
"Bob, as we called him, would sit at the same round table every week with his wife and friends and he was incredibly gracious.
"He talked to the staff and was personable, he asked questions and was interested in everyone. But there was an intense sadness to him after his son died a few years ago."
The waiter added: "Bob talked about how much he missed his son, it was a heartbreaking thing for him. He felt like a part of him had been lost, it was hard for him to live without his boy. It took a toll on him to see his son die like that."
James Redford died of cancer in October 2020 at the age of 58.
He had been diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis in the early 1990s, a chronic disease of the liver and bile ducts.
He underwent two liver transplants before founding the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness.
His documentary The Kindness of Strangers, released in 1999, focused on the lives of organ donors and recipients.
Redford had already faced tragedy decades earlier.
With his first wife Lola Van Wagenen he lost their first child Scott to sudden infant death syndrome at just two months old in 1959.
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