The Godfather’s Robert Duvall, Dead at 95

by

Robert Duvall, the celebrated actor who won an Academy Award, passed away on February 15th at the age of 95. His wife, Luciana, shared the news, saying he died peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones. She remembered his dedication to acting, his love of good food and storytelling, and his commitment to fully embodying each character he played, leaving a lasting impact on audiences. Duvall received seven Academy Award nominations and won for his role in the 1983 film Tender Mercies. He began his film career with a role in To Kill a Mockingbird, thanks to writer Horton Foote, who also penned Tender Mercies.

I’ve always been fascinated by Robert Duvall’s background. He was born back in 1931 and ended up serving after the Korean War. He’s even joked about it, saying some stories claim he was in intense battles at places like Chosin and Pork Chop Hill, but he admits he barely knew how to handle a rifle in basic training! Luckily, he used the G.I. Bill to study acting with the great Stanford Meisner. While doing theater and TV work in New York, he connected with Horton Foote, who suggested him for the role of Boo Radley in the classic To Kill a Mockingbird back in ’62. He kept working steadily throughout the sixties, but it was really in the 1970s, during that incredible New Hollywood era, that his career really took off.

Robert Duvall collaborated with many prominent directors of the New Hollywood era, including Robert Altman (as Frank Burns in MASH) and George Lucas (starring in THX 1138). However, his most significant working relationship was with Francis Ford Coppola, who cast him as the memorable Lt. Kilgore in Apocalypse Now and Tom Hagen in The Godfather parts I and II. Remarkably, Duvall performed his famous monologue in Apocalypse Now* in a single take due to limited availability of the aircraft used for filming. As he explained to Roger Ebert in 1983, they only had 20 minutes with the jets—one pass each—so he fully immersed himself in the character and remained completely still.

Robert Duvall, playing Tom Hagen, was both a part of and separate from the Corleone family in The Godfather films. He famously called the movies “the opposite of crap” in 2022, but still turned down a role in The Godfather Part III because he felt his salary was unfairly low compared to Al Pacino’s. He explained on 60 Minutes that he was okay with Pacino earning twice as much, but not three or four times more. Despite this disagreement, Duvall remained friends with director Francis Ford Coppola, who even helped him edit some of the films Duvall directed.

Robert Duvall often said his favorite role was in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove. He famously declared on set that they were creating the “Godfather of Westerns.” He won both a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his performance. Duvall continued to act throughout his life, appearing in a wide range of films like Secondhand Lions, Widows, and Four Christmases. His last films were The Pale Blue Eye and Hustle, released in 2022.

Read More

2026-02-16 22:54