Robert Duvall, the veteran actor whose career ranged from memorable supporting turns to lauded leading roles, has died at the age of 95, his wife said in a Facebook post. Luciana Duvall wrote, "For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented."
Over decades on stage and screen, Duvall became known for inhabiting a wide variety of characters - authoritative figures such as the hard-charging Lieutenant Colonel Bull Meechum in "The Great Santini" and the title role in "Stalin"; and more fractured, redemptive figures like the fallen country singer in "Tender Mercies" and the conflicted preacher in "The Apostle." He won major awards for both kinds of portrayals.
Born to a Navy admiral and an amateur actress, Duvall grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. After finishing his studies at Principia College in Illinois and serving in the U.S. Army, he relocated to New York to pursue acting. During that period he roomed with Dustin Hoffman and forged a friendship with Gene Hackman while the three were still struggling acting students.
In television and on stage he built a resume that led to film work, where even small appearances left a strong mark. His first movie role came as the reclusive Boo Radley in "To Kill a Mockingbird." Duvall secured the part after screenwriter Horton Foote, who had seen Duvall in one of his plays, recommended him.
Foote later wrote "Tender Mercies," the 1983 film that brought Duvall the Academy Award for best actor for his portrayal of a washed-up country singer seeking redemption. The role remains one of the defining performances of his career.
Perhaps his most quoted moment came in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam film "Apocalypse Now," where Duvall played the unorthodox, surfing-obsessed Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore. Though he appeared on screen only briefly, the character made an outsized impression, swaggering across a battlefield after an assault and declaring, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." The line and the performance helped secure one of Duvall's seven Academy Award nominations.
Duvall's Academy Award nomination roster also includes a Best Supporting Actor nod for Coppola's "The Godfather," in which he played Tom Hagen, the consigliere to the Corleone family. He appeared in the second installment of the series but declined to return for the third film over what he considered an unsatisfactory salary offer.
Across his career he received Oscar nominations for "The Great Santini," "The Apostle," "A Civil Action" and "The Judge" in 2014. In total, Duvall acted in nearly 100 films.
He developed a particular rapport with Western material. Duvall won an Emmy for the television mini-series "Broken Trail," acted opposite John Wayne in "True Grit," and earned an Emmy nomination for the mini-series "Lonesome Dove." He often described his role as the genial lawman-turned-cowboy Gus McRae in "Lonesome Dove" as a favorite. Reflecting on that part, he said, "I think I nailed a very specific individual guy who represents something important in our history of the Western movement. After that, I felt I could retire, that I’d done something."
When mainstream Hollywood did not offer the projects he sought, Duvall created his own opportunities. He wrote, directed and starred in "The Apostle," a film about a troubled preacher that earned him an acting nomination at the Academy Awards. He followed that approach again with "Assassination Tango," a film that showcased his interest in the tango and in Argentina, where he met his fourth wife, Luciana Pedraza.
Luciana and Duvall shared the same birth date, January 5, though they were born 41 years apart. The actor divided his time among Los Angeles, Argentina and a 360-acre farm in Virginia. On that property he converted a barn into a space for tango dancing, blending personal passions with his private life.
Throughout a long and varied career he was nominated seven times for Academy Awards and won once. His roles ranged from leading characters to brief but enduring supporting parts, and his work earned recognition in film and television, including Academy Awards and Emmy accolades.
Details surrounding his death beyond the announcement by his wife were not provided in the statement.
Summary
Robert Duvall, who won the Academy Award for best actor for "Tender Mercies" and whose screen career encompassed nearly 100 films and multiple Emmy and Oscar nominations, has died at 95, his wife Luciana said on Facebook. Duvall was known for roles ranging from Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now" to Boo Radley in "To Kill a Mockingbird," and he also wrote and directed films including "The Apostle" and "Assassination Tango." He lived between Los Angeles, Argentina and a Virginia farm where he maintained a tango hall.
Key points
- Robert Duvall died at age 95, confirmed by his wife Luciana on Facebook.
- Duvall's career included nearly 100 film appearances, one Academy Award win for "Tender Mercies," and seven Oscar nominations across films such as "Apocalypse Now," "The Godfather," "The Great Santini," "The Apostle," "A Civil Action" and "The Judge."
- He also earned Emmy recognition for television projects such as "Broken Trail" and "Lonesome Dove," and pursued projects he wrote and directed, including "The Apostle" and "Assassination Tango."
Risks and uncertainties
- Limited public detail on circumstances of his death - the announcement provided by his wife did not specify cause or additional context.
- Information about immediate family plans or memorial arrangements was not included in the public statement.