Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now and Godfather star, dies aged 95 | Robert Duvall
Master actor Robert Duvall, who played a number of roles in classic American films such as Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, M*A*S*H and To Kill a Mockingbird, passed away at the age of 95.
“Bob passed away peacefully in his home with love and comfort,” his wife, Luciana Duvall, wrote in a message on Facebook.
“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was everything. His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love of characters, great food, and kindness. For each of his many roles, Bob gave his all to his characters and the truth of the human spirit they represented. In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable for us all.”
Duvall was perhaps best known for his role as the swagger-wearing Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, released in 1979 and featuring two of the most frequently quoted lines of dialogue in cinema history: “Charlie, don’t surf!” and “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” But it also made a huge impact. advisor Tom Hagen in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, the reclusive Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird at the beginning of his career, and many supporting and character roles in later years. A country music singer trying to overcome alcoholism, he was nominated for an Oscar seven times and won once, for best actor in 1984 for the film Tender Mercies.
“The greatest consultant the screen has ever seen” wrote actor Jamie Lee Curtis took to social media to reference Duvall’s role as Corleone family lawyer Tom Hagen in the Godfather films.
Adam Sandler, who starred with Duvall in the movie Hustled (2022), he said From Duvall: “He’s so funny. He’s so powerful. He’s one of the greatest actors we’ve ever had. He’s a great guy we can talk to and laugh with. We loved him. We all did. So many movies to choose from were legendary. Watch them whenever you can.”
Turner Classic Movies paid tribute “Duvall’s storytelling has transcended mediums and generations of audiences,” TCM host Ben Manckiewicz told the actor. in question “It was hard not to love everything about Robert Duvall’s work”.
Born in 1931 in San Diego, California, the son of a naval officer, Duvall studied drama at college in St Louis, Missouri, and briefly joined the army. In 1955, he enrolled at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York (along with James Caan, Gene Hackman, and Dustin Hoffman) and shared an apartment with Hackman and Hoffman. Duvall worked steadily in TV and theater, including an award-winning role in the 1965 production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, directed by Ulu Grosbard, and earned her first film role as the mysterious Boo Radley in 1962’s To Kill a Mockingbird.
Other small roles in Bullitt (1968) and True Grit (1969) cemented his reputation, but his role in M*A*S*H (as the cocky Frank Burns, repeatedly mocked by Donald Sutherland’s Hawkeye and Elliott Gould’s Trapper John) brought him to wider attention. Starring in Francis Ford Coppola’s feminist road movie The Rain People (1969), Duvall cemented her connection with Hollywood’s new wave with a starring role in George Lucas’s 1970 feature debut, the dystopian sci-fi parable THX 1138; Tom Hagen in the first two Godfather films (he would ultimately not appear in the third film due to salary demands); and Apocalypse Now, Kilgore in a role originally intended for Hackman.
Duvall also continued to appear in more mainstream films, including the second world war thriller The Eagle Has Landed (1976), the news media satire Network (1976), and the baseball drama The Natural (1984). He made his directorial debut in 1983 with Angelo My Love, a semi-improvised drama about a Romani street child in New York. Despite winning an Oscar for Tender Mercies, leading roles rarely came her way, but she was a commanding supporting presence throughout the ’80s and ’90s, appearing in a wide range of films: the Dennis Hopper-directed gang thriller Colors, Tom Cruise’s blockbuster car movie Days of Thunder (1990), and the Margaret Atwood adaptation The Handmaid’s Tale (1990).
He returned to television in 1992 to portray Stalin in the award-winning HBO film directed by Ivan Passer. Another starring role came in 1997 in his second directorial effort, The Apostle, in which he played a preacher who murders his wife’s lover. He received his third best actor Oscar nomination for this role.
Duvall would direct two more films: 2002’s Assassination Tango and the western, in which she showcased her real-life talent for the Argentinian dance style. Wild Horses In 2015, he continued to act in a variety of films from Hollywood thrillers. Gingerbread Man and leftfield dramas like Gone in 60 Seconds, We Own the Night, and The Road. A long-standing interest in football (of the “association” variety) led to roles in low-budget Scottish drama One Shot for Victory (opposite Ally McCoist) in 2000, and the comedy Kicking and Screaming (2005) opposite Will Ferrell.
Duvall continued to work steadily in the 2010s, earning another Oscar nomination for best supporting actor in 2015 for The Judge, becoming the oldest actor ever nominated up to that time.
Duvall, who was one of Hollywood’s most prominent Republican supporters for decades, said she stopped supporting the party in 2014.
Duvall was married four times: to Barbara Benjamin (1964-81), Gail Youngs (1982-86), Sharon Brophy (1991-95), and Luciana Pedraza, whom he married in 2005. He had no children.
