Robert Duvall, the versatile and commanding actor whose performances across seven decades earned him a permanent place in American cinema history, died peacefully Sunday at his Virginia ranch. He was 95.
His wife, Luciana Duvall, confirmed his passing in a heartfelt statement. “To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” she wrote.
Born January 5, 1931, in San Diego, California, to a Navy admiral father and actress mother, Duvall built an extraordinary career that included seven Oscar nominations. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of alcoholic country singer Mac Sledge in “Tender Mercies” (1983), a role that showcased his musical talents as he performed his own singing.
Duvall first gained widespread recognition as the stoic consigliere Tom Hagen in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” (1972) and “The Godfather Part II” (1974). His unforgettable performance as the surf-loving Lt. Col. Kilgore in “Apocalypse Now” (1979) delivered one of cinema’s most quoted lines: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”
“It always comes back to ‘The Godfather.’ The first ones are two of the best films ever made. About a quarter of the way into it, we knew we had something special,” Duvall told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2010.
After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Duvall studied drama under Sanford Meisner at New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse, where his classmates included Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman. The three even shared an apartment in New York during their early struggling days.
Duvall made his film debut at age 31 as the mysterious Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962). Throughout the 1970s, he emerged as a key figure in the “New Hollywood” movement, working with visionary directors and reshaping American movie stardom alongside unconventional leading men.
His remarkable range allowed him to excel in roles as diverse as the self-righteous Major Frank Burns in “M*A*S*H” (1970), the cruel Lt. Col. Bull Meechum in “The Great Santini” (1979), and a former Texas Ranger in the acclaimed miniseries “Lonesome Dove” (1989).
In 1997, Duvall realized a personal passion project with “The Apostle,” which he wrote, directed, financed with $5 million of his own money, and starred in as a fiery Pentecostal preacher. “It’s a movie I’m proud of,” he told the Associated Press.
His later career included memorable performances in “Get Low” (2009), “Crazy Heart” (2009), and “The Judge” (2014), which earned him his final Oscar nomination at age 84.
According to his family’s statement, Duvall did not want a formal service. Instead, they encouraged fans to honor his memory by “watching a great film, telling a good story around a table with friends, or taking a drive in the countryside to appreciate the world’s beauty.”
Duvall is survived by his wife Luciana, whom he married after his previous marriages to Barbara Benjamin Marcus, Gail Youngs, and Sharon Brophy.
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