American actor Robert Duvall, known for his best-actor Oscar role in Tender Mercies and appearing in classics like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, has died at 95.
Duvall’s wife, Luciana Duvall, confirmed his death in a social media post.
“Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort,” Luciana, 54, says in the Facebook post. “To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything.”
The actor died on Sunday at his home in Middleburg, Va., an announcement from his publicist also confirmed.
Duvall acted in dozens of films, appearing in intense dramas including To Kill a Mockingbird and The Judge, and in lighter flicks like Four Christmases alongside Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaugh. He’s worked with the likes of Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Christian Bale, Viola Davis, Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.
WATCH | Robert Duvall hits the TIFF red carpet in 2012:
TIFF: JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR – Red carpet
Robert Duvall, Shawnee Smith, and actor-director Billy Bob Thornton hit the red carpet to promote their latest film Jayne Mansfield’s Car at the Toronto International Film Festival.
“For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented,” Luciana Duvall wrote in her post. “In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable to us all.”
Duvall’s death has prompted an outpouring of social media reaction from colleagues, including former co-stars.
Notably, Al Pacino, who co-starred with Duvall in The Godfather, told The Associated Press that “it was an honour to have worked with Robert Duvall. He was a born actor as they say, his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered. I will miss him.”
“I’ve always been in awe of your towering portrayals of men who were both quiet and dominating in their humanness,” said Viola Davis, who appeared with him in 2018’s Widows. “You were a giant … an icon … Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tender Mercies, The Apostle, Lonesome Dove … etc … Greatness never dies. It stays … as a gift. Rest well, sir. Your name will be spoken.”
Michael Keaton, who starred with Duvall in the 1994 comedy The Paper, expressed sadness over his passing, saying on Instagram that “another friend goes down. acted with and became friends. shared a great afternoon on my front porch talking about horses. he was greatness personified as an actor.”
WATCH | Robert Duvall on the red carpet at TIFF in 2014:
The Judge opens TIFF 2014
Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall dish on judgment at the world premiere of The Judge at the Toronto International Film FestivalPlayed Boo Radley in his 1st part
Duvall, the son of a navy admiral and an amateur actress, grew up in Annapolis, Md. After graduating from Principia College in Illinois and serving in the U.S. army, he moved to New York, where he roomed with Dustin Hoffman and befriended Gene Hackman when the three were struggling acting students.
After working on a variety of television shows, Duvall made a strong impression even in small roles, such as his first movie part as the mysterious recluse Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).
WATCH | Duvall on the impact of The Godfather:
Robert Duvall looks back on The Godfather’s impact on his career
Robert Duvall spoke with The Journal’s Russ Patrick in 1983 about how The Godfather and his role as the consigliere, Tom Hagen, changed the trajectory of his career. ‘I sensed that this was going to be a big, big film; I don’t know if I’ve ever sensed that before or since,’ Duvall said.
Perhaps Duvall’s most memorable role came in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam epic Apocalypse Now, playing the off-kilter, surfing-obsessed Lt.-Col. Bill Kilgore.
Duvall received only a few minutes of screen time but almost stole the film as his character swaggered around a battlefield after a successful attack and exuberantly proclaimed, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” It smelled “like victory,” Kilgore said.
The role brought Duvall one of his seven Academy Award nominations, including for Tender Mercies (1983), in which he played an alcoholic former country music star.
He was also nominated for best supporting actor for Coppola’s The Godfather, playing Tom Hagen, consigliere to the Corleone Mafia family. Duvall appeared in the second Godfather film but rejected the third because he considered the salary offer inadequate.
Jamie Lee Curtis, a best supporting actress Oscar winner three years ago for her role as a stern IRS auditor in Everything Everywhere All at Once, called Duvall “the greatest consigliere the screen has ever seen.”
Duvall’s other Oscar nominations were for The Great Santini (1979), The Apostle (1997), A Civil Action (1998) and The Judge (2014).Â
Duvall and his wife, Luciana, are shown at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 22, 2015. (Danny Moloshok/Reuters)
The iconic actor was passionate about tango and Argentina, where he met Luciana. She was his fourth wife, and they had a 41-year age gap.
Duvall split his time between Los Angeles, Argentina and a 146-hectare farm in Virginia, where he converted the barn into a tango dance hall.