Oscar winner Robert Duvall, a versatile actor who left lasting impressions in a variety of roles, from leading to supporting, such as the napalm-obsessed colonel in “Apocalypse Now” or the spectral Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” has died at age 95, his wife said in a Facebook post.
“For each of his many roles, Bob gave his all to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented,” Luciana Duvall said in the publication.
Duvall portrayed strong leaders such as Lieutenant Colonel Bull Meechum in “The Great Santini” and the title character in “Stalin,” as well as decadent and defeated characters in “A Man, a Woman, a Hope” and “The Apostle.” He won awards for both types of roles.
Duvall, the son of a Navy admiral and an amateur actress, grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. After graduating from Principia College in Illinois and serving in the U.S. Army, he moved to New York City, where he shared an apartment with Dustin Hoffman and befriended Gene Hackman when the three were financially struggling acting students.
After working on several television programs, Duvall made a strong impression even in small roles, such as his first film appearance as the mysterious recluse Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird”.
Duvall got the role at the suggestion of the film’s screenwriter, Horton Foote, who had liked Duvall’s work in one of his plays.
Foote later wrote “A Man and a Woman and a Hope,” a 1983 film for which Duvall won the Academy Award for Best Actor playing a washed-up country singer.
Perhaps Duvall’s most memorable role was in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War epic, “Apocalypse Now,” playing the eccentric, surf-obsessed Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore.
Duvall had only a few minutes of screen time, but he almost stole the show when his character roams the battlefield after a successful attack and enthusiastically proclaims, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” It smelled of “victory,” Kilgore said.
The role earned Duvall one of his seven Oscar nominations. Another was for Best Supporting Actor in “The Godfather,” playing Tom Hagen, advisor to the Corleone mafia family. Duvall appeared in the second film of the franchise, but turned down the third because he considered the offered salary inadequate.
Duvall was also nominated for an Oscar for “The Great Santini,” “The Apostle,” “A Civil Action,” and “The Judge” in 2014. In total, he appeared in nearly 100 films.
Duvall also had a talent for playing cowboys. He won an Emmy for the TV miniseries “Trail Lost” and starred alongside John Wayne in “True Grit.” The actor received an Emmy nomination for the miniseries “Lonesome Dove” and used to say that his portrayal of the likeable sheriff-turned-cowboy Gus McRae was his favorite role.
I think I managed to build a very specific character that represents something important in the history of the Old West movement,” Duvall told the New York Times. “After that, I felt I could retire, that I had done something important.”
When he grew tired of Hollywood, Duvall made his own films. He wrote, directed, and received an Oscar nomination for acting for “The Apostle,” a story about a pastor in conflict.
Duvall did the same with “Assassination Tango,” a film that allowed him to showcase his passion for tango and Argentina, where he met his fourth wife, Luciana Pedraza. They were both born on January 5th, but 41 years apart.
Duvall divided his time between Los Angeles, Argentina, and a 146-hectare farm in Virginia, where he transformed a barn into a tango dance hall.
Source: brasil247.com