RobertDuvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two “Godfather” movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in “Tender Mercies,” has died at age 95.
Duvalldied “peacefully” at his home Sunday inMiddleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his publicist and from a statement posted on his Facebook page by his wife,LucianaDuvall.
“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,”LucianaDuvallwrote. “His 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.”
The bald, wiryDuvalldidn’t have leading man looks, but few “character actors” enjoyed such a long, rewarding and unpredictable career, in leading and supporting roles, from an itinerant preacher toJosef Stalin. Beginning with his 1962 film debut asBoo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in “To Kill a Mockingbird,”Duvallcreated a gallery of unforgettable portrayals. They earned him seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor prize for “Tender Mercies,” which came out in 1983. He also won four Golden Globes, including one for playing the philosophical cattle-drive boss in the 1989 miniseries “Lonesome Dove,” a role he often cited as his favorite.
In 2005,Duvallwas awarded a National Medal of Arts.
He had been acting for some 20 years when “The Godfather,” released in 1972, established him as one of the most in-demand performers ofHollywood. He had made a previous film, “The Rain People,” withFrancis Coppola, and the director chose him to playTom Hagenin the mafia epic that featuredAl PacinoandMarlon Brandoamong others.Duvallwas a master of subtlety as an Irishman among Italians, rarely at the center of a scene, but often listening and advising in the background, an irreplaceable thread through the saga of the Corleone crime family.
“Stars and Italians alike depend on his efficiency, his tidying up around their grand gestures, his being the perfect shortstop on a team of personality sluggers,” wrote the criticDavid Thomson. “Was there ever a role better designed for its actor than that ofTom Hagenin both parts of ‘The Godfather?'”
In another Coppola film, “Apocalypse Now,”Duvallwas wildly out front, the embodiment of deranged masculinity as LieutenantColonel Bill Kilgore, who with equal vigor enjoyed surfing and bombing raids on the Viet Cong.Duvallrequired few takes for one of the most famous passages in movie history, barked out on the battlefield by a bare-chested, cavalry-hatted Kilgore: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn’t find one of ’em, not one stinkin’ dink body.
“The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like — victory.”
Coppola once commented aboutDuvall: “Actors click into character at different times — the first week, third week. Bobby’s hot after one or two takes.”
Honored, but still hungry
He was Oscar-nominated as supporting actor for “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now,” but a dispute over money led him to turn down the third Godfather epic, a loss deeply felt by critics, fans and “Godfather” colleagues.Duvallwould complain publicly about being offered less than his co-stars.
Fellow actors marveled atDuvall’s studious research and planning, and his coiled energy.Michael Caine, who co-starred with him in the 2003 “Secondhand Lions,” once toldThe Associated Press: “Before a big scene, Bobby just sits there, absolutely quiet; you know when not to talk to him.” Anyone who disturbed him would suffer the well-knownDuvalltemper, famously on display during the filming of the John Wayne Western “True Grit,” whenDuvallseethed at directorHenry Hathaway’sadvice to “tense up” before a scene.
Duvallwas awarded an Oscar in 1984 for his leading role as the troubled singer and songwriterMac Sledgein “Tender Mercies,” a prize he accepted while clad in a cowboy tuxedo with Western tie. In 1998, he was nominated for best actor in “The Apostle,” a drama about a wayward Southern evangelist which he wrote, directed, starred in, produced and largely financed. With customary thoroughness, he visited dozens of country churches and spent 12 years writing the script and trying to get it made.
Among other notable roles: the outlaw gang leader who gets ambushed byJohn Waynein “True Grit”;Jesse Jamesin “The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid”; the pious and beleagueredFrank Burnsin “M-A-S-H”; the TV hatchet man in “Network”;Dr. Watsonin “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution”; and the sadistic father in “The Great Santini.”
“When I was doing ‘Colors’ in 1988 withSean Penn, someone asked me how I do it all these years, keep it fresh. Well, if you don’t overwork, have some hobbies, you can do it and stay hungry even if you’re not really hungry,”DuvalltoldThe Associated Pressin 1990.
In his mid-80s, he received a supporting Oscar nomination as the title character of the 2014 release “The Judge,” in which he is accused of causing a death in a hit-and-run accident. More recent films included “Widows” and “12 Mighty Orphans.”
Ungifted in school, gifted on stage
Robert SeldenDuvallgrew up in theNavytowns ofAnnapolisand theSan Diegoarea, where he was born in 1931. He spent time in other cities as his father, who rose to be an admiral, was assigned to various duties.
The boy’s experience helped in his adult profession as he learned the nuances of regional speech and observed the psyche of military men, which he would portray in several films.
Duvallreportedly used hisNavyofficer father as the basis for his portrayal of the explosive militarist in “The Great Santini,” based on the Pat Conroy novel. He commented in 2003: “My dad was a gentleman but a seether, a stern, blustery guy, and away a lot of the time.” Bobby took after his mother, an amateur actress, in playing a guitar and performing. He was a wrestler like his father and enjoyed besting kids older than himself.
He lacked the concentration for schoolwork and nearly flunked out ofPrincipia CollegeinElsah, Illinois. His despairing parents decided he needed something to keep him in college so he wouldn’t be drafted for the Korean War. “They recommended acting as an expedient thing to get through,” he recalled. “I’m glad they did.” He flourished in drama classes.
“Way back when I was in college,”Duvalltold the AP in 1990, “there was a wonderful man namedFrank Parker, who had been a dancer in World War I. We did a full-length mime play and I played a Harlequin clown. I really liked that.
“Then, I played an older guy in ‘All My Sons,’ and at one point I had this emotional moment, where this emotion was pouring out. Parker said at that moment he didn’t think acting can be carried any further than that. And this guy was a very critical guy. So I thought, at that moment at least, this is what I wanted to do.”
After two years in the Army, he used the G.I. Bill to finance his studies at theNeighborhood PlayhouseinNew York, hanging out with such other young hopefuls asRobert Morse,Gene HackmanandDustin Hoffman. After a one-night performance in “A View From the Bridge,”Duvallbegan getting offers for work in TV series, among them “The Naked City” and “The Defenders.”
Between his high-paying jobs in major productions,Duvalldevoted himself to directing personal projects: a documentary about a prairie family, “We’re Not the Jet Set”; a film about gypsies, “Angelo, My Love”; and “Assassination Tango,” in which he also starred.
Duvallhad been a tango dancer since seeing the musical “Tango Argentina” in the 1980s and visited inArgentinadozens of times to study the dance and the culture. The result was the 2003 release about a hit man with a passion for tango.
His co-star wasLuciana Pedraza, 42 years his junior, whom he married in 2005.Duvall’s three previous marriages — toBarbara Benjamin,Gail YoungsandSharon Brophy— ended in divorce.
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