Feb 17, 2026
3 min read
Robert Duvall, who earned a place in movie history for his roles in "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now," has died at the age of 95, according to a statement from his family.
Robert Duvall, the masterful and versatile actor who earned a permanent place in American film history as a stoic mob advisor in "The Godfather," a surfer-loving Army colonel in "Apocalypse Now" and an actor in "Tender Mercies," died Sunday.
He was 95 years old.
According to a statement from his family, Duvall died peacefully at his home in Middleburg, Virginia, with his wife by his side.
He didn't need a formal service, so his family encouraged his fans to "celebrate his memory by watching a great movie, telling a good story around the dinner table with friends, or taking a drive to appreciate the beauty of the world."
In a difficult Hollywood career that spanned nearly six decades, Duvall shrewdly alternated between lead and supporting roles, making a show of searing anger and quiet gravitas.He completely inhabited each character, whether portraying a cruel television executive in "Network" (1976) or a passionate Pentecostal preacher in "Apostle" (1997).
He has been nominated for seven Academy Awards and seven Golden Globes.He won the Best Academy Award in 1984 for his role as drunken country singer Mac Sledge in Bruce Beresford's "Tender Mercies."
Robert Seldon Duvall was born on January 5, 1931, in San Diego, to Mildred Hart, an amateur actor, and William Duvall, a U.S. Navy admiral. He grew up on naval bases across the country, including the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and graduated from Principia College in Elsah.Illinois in 1953. He served in the U.S. Army for two years during the Korean War.When Duwall returned to AmericaHe studied drama with famous instructor Sanford Meisner at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, where his classmates included Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, and James Caan.
During these years, Duvall found odd jobs in New York and roomed with Hoffman and Hackman.He has appeared in many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" and "A View from the Bridge," and has landed guest spots on popular television shows such as "The Twilight Zone."He continued to build his reputation in the 1960s, with a memorable role in the John Wayne film "True Grit."(1969) and in Francis Ford Coppola's character study "The Rain People" (1969).
During the 1970s, Duvall emerged as one of the leading figures in the "New Hollywood" movement.He often collaborated with visionary directors and helped reshape the face of American film stardom with other unconventional leading men - a group that included Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and former roommates of Hoffman and Hackman.Feature debut "THX 1138" (1971), a dystopian sci-fi thriller released six years before the original "Star Wars."
Duvall reached new heights of fame with his unforgettable roles as the ruthless Corleone family lawyer Tom Hagen in Coppola's "The Godfather" (1972), for which he received his first Oscar nomination, and "The Godfather Part II" (1974), in which his character became even more prolific.
"It always comes back to 'The Godfather.'drawn.
Duvall, once memorably described by People magazine as "Hollywood's No. 1 No. 2 leading man," continued to make his mark in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He starred in The Great Santini (1979) as the ruthless Lt. Col. Bull, who received critical acclaim as Mitchum, an adaptation of Pat Conroy's novel of the same name. That same year, Duvall played the great surfing enthusiast,of Lt. Col. Kilgore as Coppolos-Expusive in the Coppolosnam War."Apocalypse Now," delivering the world-famous line beneath the brim of a black Stetson riding hat: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."
"I don't know how many people have come up to me over the years and repeated, as if telling a secret, 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning.' They act like we're the only two who know that line," Duvall told the Daily Telegraph in 2003.
“But the curious thing is that they replace gasoline with ‘napalm’ or whatever comes to mind,” he added.
Four years after Apocalypse, Duvall took the title role in Tender Mercy, a heartfelt story of faith and redemption.Duvall sang himself in the film, and the role won him his first Oscar.
The actor's other notable roles in the 1980s included playing a sports writer in the Robert Redford baseball drama "The Natural" (1984) and a veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department in "Colors" (1988), co-starring Sean Penn.He earned the most glowing reviews of his career as a former Texas Ranger in the 1989 four-part miniseries "Lonesome Dove." Duvall continued to work steadily throughout the 1990s and appeared in high-profile commercial projects such as "Days of Thunder" (1990), "The Paper" (19993), "Pelanon" (1995) and "Deep Impact" (1998).He received his sixth Oscar nomination as a corporate lawyer in the John Travolta drama "A Civil Action" (1998).
In the same decade, Duvall also made one of his passion projects: "The Apostle," a multi-layered drama that he directed, wrote and financed with $5 million of his own money.He played a fiery preacher chasing spiritual salvation in Bayous, Louisiana.
In 1997, Duvall told The Associated Press about his dual role on set, "I thought I had to put up a full-length mirror so I could scream at the director."But I didn't have to. We finished even one day before the scheduled day. It's a film I'm proud of."
In recent years, Duvall has racked up additional credits, playing gruff cops, savvy mentors or sassy father figures in films such as "Gone in 60 Seconds" (2000), "John Q" (2002), "Secondhand Lions" (2003), "Open Range" (2003), "We Own the Heart" (2003), "We Own the Heart" (2007)and "2007".Contemporary riff on "Tender Mercies" with Jeff Bridges. He was particularly memorable as Confederate leader Robert E. Lee in "Gods and Generals" (2003), a bearded hermit in the Depression-era drama "Get Low" (2009), an elderly family patriarch opposite Robert Downey Jr. in "The Queen McQueen" and a racist policy maker in Steve McQueen (2001).“Widows” (2018).“The Judge” earned Duvall another Oscar nomination.
Duvall directed a total of four narrative features: "Angelo I Loved" (1983), "The Messenger", "Assassination Tango" (2002) and "Wild Horses" (2015).
Duvall is survived by his wife, Argentinian actress and director Luciana Duvall.He was previously married to Barbara Benjamin Marcus, Gail Youngs and Sharon Brophy.
