RIP: Robert Duvall

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Robert Duvall died yesterday at the age of 95.  No cause of death was given.

Robert Duvall’s mother was an amateur actress and his father a Rear Admiral in the US Navy.  Mr. Duvall graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.  He then served in the US Army.  During his stint in the service, Mr. Duvall acted in amateur production.  He felt he had found something he was good at.

Mr. Duvall then, on the GI Bill, studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City.  Fellow classmates included James Caan as well as Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman who also became roomates with him.

Mr. Duvall’s professional acting career began doing summer theater at the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, Long Island, New York.  He played a pilot in Laughter in the Stars.  Many other stage roles and bigger parts followed.  Mr. Duvall’s first television role was on Armstrong Circle Theater in the episode titled The Jailbreak.   His first feature film role was as Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird.  By this time Robert Duvall was making regular guest appearances on television.  Soon after, his career would take off in feature films.  He was equally adept at lead or supporting roles.

Over the course of his career Robert Duvall continued to act, direct, write and produce.  Some of the Awards he was nominated for and/or received include:

  • 1973 Academy Award Nominee as Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Godfather.
  • 1980 Academy Award Nominee as Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Apocalypse Now.
  • 1980 Golden Globe Winner as Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Motion Picture for Apocalypse Now (Tied with Melvyn Douglas for Being There)
  • 1981 Academy Award Nominee as Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Great Santini.
  • 1984 Golden Globe Winner as Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama – Tender Mercies (Tied with Tom Courtenay for The Dresser)
  • 1984 Academy Award Winner as Best Actor in a Leading Role for Tender Mercies.
  • 1989 Primetime Emmy Nominee as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special – Lonesome Dove – “Gus McCrae”.
  • 1990 Golden Globe Winner as Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television – Lonesome Dove
  • 1993 Primetime Emmy Nominee as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special – Stalin –  “Joseph Stalin”.
  • 1993 Golden Globe Winner as Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television – Stalin
  • 1997 Primetime Emmy Nominee as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special – The Man Who Captured Eichmann –  “Adolf Eichmann”.
  • 1998 Academy Award Nominee as Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Apostle.
  • 1999 Academy Award Nominee as Best Actor in a Supporting Role for A Civil Action.
  • 1999 Golden Globe Nominee as Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – A Civil Action
  • 2007 Golden Globe Nominee as Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television – Broken Trail
  • 2007 Primetime Emmy Winner as Outstanding Miniseries – Broken Trail – Shared with: Stanley M. Brooks, Rob Carliner, Chad Oakes, Walter Hill, Damian Ganczewski
  • 2007 Primetime Emmy Winner as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie – Broken Trail – “Prentice Ritter”.
  • 2015 Golden Globe Nominee as Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – The Judge
  • 2015 Academy Award Nominee as Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Judge.

Some of the television projects that feature Robert Duvall acting include: Armstrong Circle Theater; Playhouse 90; Great Ghost Tales; Cain’s 100; Shannon; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Naked City (4 episodes); The Untouchables; Route 66 (3 episodes); The Twilight Zone; The Virginian; Stoney Burke; Arrest and Trial; The Lieutenant; Kraft Suspense Theater; The Outer Limits (3 episodes); The Fugitive (3 episodes); Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea; The Defenders (3 episodes); Bob Hope Presents; Hawk; The Felony Squad; Shane; Fame is the Name of the Game; The Time Tunnel (2 episodes); T.H.E. Cat (2 episodes); Combat (3 episodes); Cimarron Strip; The Wild Wild West; Run for Your Life; Judd for the Defense; Mod Squad; The F.B.I. (5 episodes); MASH; Ike: The War Years (3 episodes); The Terry Fox Story; Lonesome Dove (4 episodes); Stalin and The Man Who Captured Eichmann.

Some feature films that Robert Duvall include: To Kill a Mockingbird; The Chase; The Detective; Bullitt; True Grit; The Rain People; Lawman; TH1138; The Godfather; The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid; Joe Kidd; Badge 373; The Outfit; The Conversation; The Godfather II; We’re Not the Jet Set (director); Breakout; The Killer Elite; The Seven-Per-Cent Solution; Network; The Eagle Has Landed; The Greatest; Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Apocalypse Now; The Great Santini; True Confessions; Angelo, My Love (writer/director); Tender Mercies; The Natural; Colors; Days of Thunder; Newsies; Falling Down; Geronimo: An American Legend; Wrestling Ernest Hemmingway; Phenomenom; Sling Blade; The Apostle (writer/director/star); Deep Impact; A Civil Action; Gone in 60 Seconds; The Sixth Day; John Q; Assassination Tango (writer/director/star); Open Range; Secondhand Lions; Thank You for Smoking; The Road; Get Low; Crazy Heart; Jack Reacher; The Judge; Wild Horses (writer/director/star); Hustle and The Pale Blue Eye.

I probably first saw Robert Duvall acting in To Kill a Mockingbird.  If it wasn’t there it could have been on so many different television shows I watched as a kid.  Mr. Duvall was so great in so many roles it is hard to pick a favorite.  So I’ll pick productions that feature him in parts I never grow tired of: To Kill a Mockingbird; The Godfather (Parts I and II); Apocalypse Now; The Great Santini; Open Range and Lonesome Dove.  Robert Duvall was without a doubt one of our greatest actors.

Out thoughts and prayers go out to Robert Duvall’s family, friends and fans.