Renowned for his iconic performances, Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor celebrated for his leading role in “Tender Mercies,” has passed away at the age of 95.
His wife, Luciana Duvall, announced his death on Facebook, revealing that he died peacefully at home on Sunday, enveloped in love and comfort.
“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” Luciana expressed in her heartfelt tribute.
Duvall’s representative issued a statement noting that, in accordance with his wishes, no formal memorial service will be held.
“Instead, the family encourages those who wish to honor his memory to do so in a way that reflects the life he lived by watching a great film, telling a good story around a table with friends, or taking a drive in the countryside to appreciate the world’s beauty,” the statement added.
Spanning an impressive seven decades, Robert Duvall’s illustrious career included unforgettable performances in film, television, and theater, with standout roles in classics like “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now.”
Robert Duvall brought a signature naturalism to the roles he played, an unmannered style that infused his myriad characters with a calm intensity – a counterpoint to his self-confessed often hot-tempered on-set disposition – and earned him a reputation as one of his generation’s finest actors. Beginning with his memorable film debut as Boo Radley in 1962’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” in which he didn’t utter a word, Robert Duvall went on to appear in more than 90 films over the next seven decades, working with some of Hollywood’s most celebrated filmmakers and performers.
Duvall shared the screen as the outlaw Ned Pepper opposite John Wayne in 1969’s “True Grit,” originated the role of Maj. Frank Burns in Robert Altman’s 1970 dark comedy “M*A*S*H,” and starred in the title role in “Star Wars” creator George Lucas’ 1971 directorial debut, “THX 1138.” Duvall also played Corleone family consigliere Tom Hagen in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II” opposite his acting hero, Marlon Brando, and had a pivotal role the ruthless network VP Frank Hackett in the acclaimed 1976 media satire “Network.”
As the shirtless, cowboy hat-wearing Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War epic “Apocalypse Now,” Duvall delivered the film’s most oft-quoted line: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” Four years later, Duvall won the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Mac Sledge, a recovering alcoholic country music star attempting to make amends in “Tender Mercies.”
“Time teaches you a lot of things. It gets a little easier as you get older,” Duvall, then 72, told ABC News’ Charlie Gibson in 2003, reflecting in his craft. He went on to quote a line from his beloved “Lonesome Dove” character, Gus McCrae: “The older the violin, the sweeter the music. Maybe that applies somewhere.”
ABC News contributed to this story.
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