Hollywood Legend Robert Duvall Dies as Al Pacino and Robert De Niro Lead Tributes
Robert Duvall dies at 95, and Hollywood—from Al Pacino and Robert De Niro to generations of collaborators—pays tribute to a towering career and indelible screen presence.
Some actors feel like they were always there, always the steady hand. Robert Duvall was one of those. He died Sunday night at home in Middleburg, Virginia. He was 95.
Robert Duvall has died at 95
His wife, Luciana Duvall, announced the news in a Facebook post and said he passed peacefully at home, surrounded by love. A cause of death was not immediately available.
'Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort.'
'To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything.'
The work that made him essential
Duvall won the Best Actor Oscar for Tender Mercies in 1983, the kind of quietly devastating performance other actors point to when they talk about restraint. He racked up six more Oscar nominations over the decades: The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, The Apostle, A Civil Action, and The Judge. On TV, he delivered a career-defining turn as Augustus 'Gus' McCrae in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove.
His filmography is stacked with lightning-rod roles and indelible faces. He was Tom Hagen, the cool-headed consigliere, in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). He was Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979), the guy who could sell a war with a whiff of napalm and a surfboard. If you grew up seeing his name in the credits, you learned to sit up a little straighter.
- Academy Award: Best Actor for Tender Mercies (win)
- Additional Oscar nominations: The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, The Apostle, A Civil Action, The Judge
- Signature roles: Tom Hagen in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II; Lt. Col. Kilgore in Apocalypse Now; Augustus 'Gus' McCrae in Lonesome Dove (1989)
Hollywood says goodbye
Colleagues and friends flooded social media with memories and gratitude. Al Pacino, his Godfather co-star, called working with Duvall an honor.
'It was an honor to have worked with Robert Duvall. He was a born actor as they say, his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered. I will miss him.'
Robert De Niro shared his respect and a wish for that kind of longevity. Francis Ford Coppola mourned the loss. Adam Sandler remembered how funny and strong he was. Viola Davis recalled being in awe while working with him on Widows. Michael Keaton, his co-star in The Paper, wrote about the afternoon they spent on his porch talking horses, which feels exactly right for Duvall.
Jamie Lee Curtis put a bow on the thing that many of us already knew: there was no better on-screen consigliere.
'The greatest consigliere the screen has ever seen. Bravo, Robert Duvall.'
Some performers steal scenes. Duvall didn’t need to. He just showed up and the air changed. That is a rare trick, and we got to watch him do it for more than half a century.