Robert Duvall

Duvall was married four times. He was married to Barbara Benjamin from 1964 to 1975, Gail Youngs from 1982 to 1986, and Sharon Brophy from 1991 to 1995. He married Argentine actor and director Luciana Pedraza in 2005, after they had been together since 1997.

Duvall and Pedraza worked together on Assassination Tango, and they founded the Robert Duvall Children's Fund in 2001 to assist families in northern Argentina. Duvall and Pedraza shared a passion for Argentine tango, and he maintained tango studios in Argentina and the United States.

Duvall had no children. He died at his home in Middleburg, Virginia, on February 15, 2026.

Duvall began his professional acting career at Long Island's Gateway Playhouse in 1952. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1954, he studied under Sanford Meisner at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. His classmates and close friends included Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman, and he supported himself with jobs including postal clerk and department-store worker.

His stage work included Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge, in which he played Eddie Carbone and won an Obie Award in 1965. He made his Broadway debut in Wait Until Dark in 1966 and later appeared in David Mamet's American Buffalo.

Playwright Horton Foote recommended Duvall for the role of Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), his breakthrough film appearance. He followed it with roles in Bullitt, True Grit, Robert Altman's MASH, and George Lucas's THX 1138*.

Francis Ford Coppola cast Duvall as Tom Hagen, the Corleone family's consigliere, in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). The first film earned Duvall his first Academy Award nomination. He also worked with Coppola on The Rain People, The Conversation, and Apocalypse Now.

As Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979), Duvall delivered the famous line, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” He received an Academy Award nomination, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for the performance. He was also nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Marine officer Bull Meechum in The Great Santini (1980).

Duvall won the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing the troubled country singer Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies (1983). He performed many of the character's songs himself. His other Oscar-nominated performances included The Apostle, A Civil Action, and The Judge.

Duvall considered his portrayal of retired Texas Ranger Augustus “Gus” McCrae in the television miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989) his favorite role. The performance earned him a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination. He later won Golden Globe Awards for portraying Joseph Stalin in the television film Stalin and received Emmy nominations for Stalin and The Man Who Captured Eichmann.

Duvall formed the production company Butcher's Run Films in 1992. He wrote, directed, and starred in The Apostle (1997), a film about an evangelical preacher beginning a new life in Louisiana. He also directed Angelo My Love, Assassination Tango, and Wild Horses.

His later acting roles included Gods and Generals, Secondhand Lions, Get Low, Jack Reacher, Widows, 12 Mighty Orphans, Hustle, and The Pale Blue Eye. Hustle and The Pale Blue Eye, both released in 2022, were his final films.

Duvall received seven Academy Award nominations and won two Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. President George W. Bush presented him with the National Medal of Arts in 2005.