<\/p>\n
Robert Duvall, who won an Oscar for \u201cTender Mercies\u201d and was nominated for his roles\u00a0in films including \u201cThe Godfather,\u201d \u201cApocalypse Now,\u201d and\u00a0\u201cThe Great Santini,\u201d has died. He was 95.<\/p>\n
Duvall\u2019s death was announced on Facebook<\/a> via a statement from his wife, Luciana Duvall.<\/p>\n More from Variety<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cYesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time,\u201d she wrote. \u201cBob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort. To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued, \u201cHis passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented. In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable to us all. Thank you for the years of support you showed Bob and for giving us this time and privacy to celebrate the memories he leaves behind.\u201d<\/p>\n Duvall\u2019s gruff naturalism came to define the acting style of a generation that included\u00a0Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman in such films as \u201cNetwork\u201d and \u201cThe Apostle,\u201d which he also directed.<\/p>\n And while he may never have been as big a star as DeNiro, his unshowy ability to fully embrace the characters he played earned him\u00a0respect both from his peers and from critics.\u00a0As Francis Ford Coppola once told the New York Times, at a certain point, it\u2019s \u201chard to say the difference between leading men and great character actors.\u201d<\/p>\n He was an actor\u2019s actor who drew seven Oscar nominations but also found time to shine in TV vehicles such as \u201cLonesome Dove\u201d and \u201cBroken Trail,\u201d drawing a total of five Emmy nominations and winning twice.<\/p>\n His first big-screen role, and one of his most memorable, was the scary Boo Radley in 1962\u2019s \u201cTo Kill a Mockingbird.\u201d While Duvall\u2019s career took some time to get off the ground despite the strong start, by the early to mid-\u201970s he had come into his own, combining the abilities for seamless character acting with occasional strong forays into larger roles.<\/p>\n In 1969, he paired with a young director, Francis Ford Coppola, onthe intimate drama \u201cThe Rain People,\u201d and the next year got the juicy role of Frank Burns in Robert Altman\u2019s \u201cMASH.\u201d He also starred in George Lucas\u2019 experimental \u201cTHX 1138.\u201d And the actor was doing interesting work onstage.<\/p>\n But the movie that turned it all around was 1972\u2019s \u201cThe Godfather,\u201d in which he played the patient and sly consigliere Tom Hagen, the role that brought him his first Oscar nomination. He reprised his role as Hagen in \u201cThe Godfather: Part II\u201d in 1974. He also appeared in Coppola\u2019s \u201cThe Conversation\u201d and as Dr. Watson in Herbert Ross\u2019 \u201cThe Seven-Per-Cent Solution.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1976, he had a memorable role as a ruthless television executive in \u201cNetwork,\u201d and three years later, as Colonel Kilgore, he uttered the memorable \u201cI love the smell of napalm in the morning\u201d line in Coppola\u2019s \u201cApocalypse Now,\u201d walking off with a second Oscar nomination.<\/p>\n In 1977, he and Ulu Grosbard paired to bring David Mamet\u2019s \u201cAmerican Buffalo\u201d to Broadway to mixed notices. The same year he made a rural documentary called \u201cWe\u2019re Not Jet Set\u201d and in the early \u201980s directed the small, finely observed \u201cAngelo, My Love.\u201d<\/p>\n It was not, however, until \u201cThe Great Santini,\u201d in which he played the title character, a blustery, militaristic father, that he established his leading man credentials on film, garnering his first Oscar nomination as best actor in 1980. The following year, he won kudos at the Venice Film Festival opposite Robert De Niro in \u201cTrue Confessions.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, in 1984, his quiet, detailed performance in \u201cTender Mercies,\u201d written by Horton Foote and directed by Bruce Beresford, brought him the Oscar as best actor.<\/p>\n Thereafter, however, he often received top billing for secondary or co-lead roles, as in \u201cThe Natural,\u201d \u201cColors,\u201d \u201cDays of Thunder,\u201d \u201cRambling Rose,\u201d \u201cGeronimo: An American Legend\u201d and \u201cDeep Impact.\u201d<\/p>\n Duvall received considerable attention for his 1997 film \u201cThe Apostle,\u201d which he directed and toplined. He was Oscar nominated for best actor for his role as a womanizing Texas preacher who must start again after committing an act of violence. At the Independent Spirit Awards, \u201cThe Apostle\u201d took best picture and twin nods for Duvall as actor and director.<\/p>\n Duvall drew an Oscar nomination for supporting actor the following year for his role as a brilliant but eccentric lawyer who is attorney John Travolta\u2019s nemesis in the courtroom drama \u201cA Civic\u00a0Action.\u201d<\/p>\n Other efforts included the Nicolas Cage actioner \u201cGone in Sixty Seconds\u201d and Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi thriller \u201cThe Sixth Day\u201d; sports pic \u201cA Shot at Glory\u201d in which he tried a\u00a0Scottish brogue and hostage drama \u201cJohn Q.\u201d<\/p>\n Duvall wrote, directed and starred in the enigmatic 2003 film \u201cAssassination Tango,\u201d about a hitman with obsessive tendencies who\u2019s sent to Argentina and becomes involved with a dancer.<\/p>\n He\u00a0returned to the Western genre in Kevin Costner\u2019s 2003 film \u201cOpen Range,\u201d then\u00a0the actor portrayed Gen. Robert E. Lee in \u201cGods and Generals,\u201d and starred in \u201cSecondhand Lions,\u201d a small film in which he and Michael Caine got to riff off each other as a pair of eccentric great-uncles to young Haley Joel Osment.<\/p>\n Duvall was a crusty cop in James Gray\u2019s \u201cWe Own the Night,\u201d but the actor had some fun lampooning his notoriously crusty characters in small roles in \u201cFour Christmases\u201d and the 2005 satire \u201cThank You for Smoking.\u201d<\/p>\n The actor\u00a0did not slow down as he neared his 80th birthday: In 2009 he appeared in John Hillcoat\u2019s \u201cThe Road\u201d; starred in the small but well-liked \u201cGet Low,\u201d in which he played a bearded hermit who is, to use Roger Ebert\u2019s phrase, \u201ca sly old twinkler\u201d; and did a supporting turn in and produced \u201cCrazy Heart,\u201d which reminded many of Duvall\u2019s \u201cTender Mercies.\u201d<\/p>\n The actor reunited with \u201cLonesome Dove\u201d screenwriter Bill Wittliff for 2014\u2019s \u201cA Night in Old Mexico\u201d and the same year\u00a0starred in \u201cThe Judge\u201d as a jurist accused of a hit-and-run murder and defended by the son (Robert Downey Jr.) who represents everything he despises about the law. The film, said Variety, \u201cpivots on a simple yet inspired stroke of casting, pitting Duvall\u2019s iconic gravitas against Downey\u2019s razor-sharp wit, and then supplying no shortage of opportunities for both men to chew the scenery.\u201d<\/p>\n Duvall drew his seventh Oscar nomination for his work in the film.<\/p>\n In 2015, the actor\u2019s first directorial effort since 2002\u2019s \u201cAssassination Tango,\u201d the ambitious indie feature \u201cWild Horses,\u201d premiered at SXSW.<\/p>\n One of his final screen roles came in Scott Cooper\u2019s \u201cThe Pale Blue Eye\u201d in 2022.<\/p>\n Born in San Diego, Duvall was the son of a Navy rear admiral and grew up in various parts of the country, but especially Annapolis, Md., site of the U.S Naval Academy. It was actually at the insistence of his parents and teachers that Duvall began to study drama. After graduating from Principia College and the completion of his military service, Duvall studied under Sanford Meisner at New York\u2019s Neighborhood Playhouse.<\/p>\n He hung out with friends like Robert Morse, Hackman and Hoffman. A one-night only performance of Arthur Miller\u2019s \u201cA View From the Bridge\u201d in 1957 directed by Grosbard led to television work on \u201cNaked City\u201d and guest appearances on \u201cThe Defenders,\u201d \u201cArmstrong Circle Theater,\u201d \u201cThe FBI\u201d and other shows.<\/p>\n Through the \u201960s, even after the enormous success of \u201cTo Kill a Mockingbird,\u201d he subsisted on character roles in films including \u201cCaptain Newman M.D.,\u201d \u201cThe Chase,\u201d \u201cThe Detective,\u201d \u201cTrue Grit\u201d and \u201cBullitt.\u201d And he was a staple in Westerns such as \u201cLawman,\u201d \u201cThe Great Northfield Minnesota Raid\u201d and \u201cJoe Kidd.\u201d<\/p>\n But he was also doing fine work in the theater in \u201cMrs. Warren\u2019s Profession,\u201d \u201cCall Me by My Rightful Name,\u201d \u201cThe Days and Nights of Beebee Fenstermaker\u201d and a full-fledged Off Broadway production of \u201cA View From the Bridge\u201d in 1965, co-starring Jon Voight and Susan Anspach.<\/p>\n Urban crime dramas were his other staple along with Westerns. They included, during the 1970s, \u201cBadge 373,\u201d \u201cBreakout\u201d and Sam Peckinpah\u2019s \u201cThe Killer Elite.\u201d<\/p>\n TV occasionally offered the actor a juicy, fully dimensional role. In 1979, he starred in the TV movie \u201cIke\u201d as General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ten years later, he starred in the highly praised CBS miniseries \u201cLonesome Dove,\u201d picking up an Emmy nomination. He starred as the Soviet dictator in the 1992 HBO film \u201cStalin,\u201d for which he earned a second Emmy nom. In 1997, he drew an Emmy nomination for his role as the title Nazi in \u201cThe Man Who Captured Eichmann\u201d; and in 2006, he not only toplined but also exec produced the miniseries \u201cBroken Trail,\u201d whose success put cabler AMC on the map as a producer of original content \u2014 and earned Duvall two Emmys, one for his performance and another, shared with the other producers, for outstanding miniseries. For HBO, he appeared in the 2012 telepic \u201cHemingway and Gelhorn,\u201d in which he played a Russian general.<\/p>\n He is survived by his fourth wife, Luciana Pedraza, with whom he starred in \u201cAssassination Tango.\u201d<\/p>\n Best of Variety<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.news.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Robert Duvall, who won an Oscar for \u201cTender Mercies\u201d and was nominated for his roles\u00a0in films including \u201cThe Godfather,\u201d \u201cApocalypse Now,\u201d and\u00a0\u201cThe Great Santini,\u201d has died. He was 95. Duvall\u2019s death was announced on Facebook via a statement from his wife, Luciana Duvall. More from Variety \u201cYesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2284767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[347644,50575,442651,22325,363538,39031,373404,442710,339619,442680,377209,442709],"class_list":["post-2284766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-dustin-hoffman","tag-francis-ford-coppola","tag-luciana-duvall","tag-oscar","tag-robert-altman","tag-robert-de-niro","tag-robert-duvall","tag-robert-e-lee","tag-robert-morse","tag-tender-mercies","tag-the-godfather","tag-the-great-santini"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Robert-Duvall-Star-of-\u2018The-Godfather-and-\u2018The-Great-Santini.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2284766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2284768,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284766\/revisions\/2284768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2284767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2284766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2284766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2284766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}