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Robert Duvall 1931-2026

The iconic actor never wanted stardom, but it came for
him anyway, thanks to decades of unforgettable roles.

By Scott Huver in People

obert Duvall always did Hollywood his own way. "I'm not perceived as a traditional leading man, but I never aimed at that sort of thing either," said Duvall, who transformed from a committed character actor to a widely admired movie star over the course of his seven-decade career. "I never straightened my front teeth. I wasn't cut out for that. Even if I did a 'big' movie, I'd still want to make it a real character," he added to USA Today. Duvall -- who died at 95 on Feb. 15 "peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort" at his farm in Middleburg, Va., according to his wife, filmmaker Luciana Pedraza, 53 -- ultimately became one of the most respected actors of his generation, earning a bevy of awards including an Oscar (amid seven nominations), four Golden Globes and two Emmys.

Raised primarily in Annapolis, Md., by William, a rear admiral in the Navy, and Mildred, an amateur actor, Duvall briefly enlisted in the Army before pursuing the stage. "I was terrible at everything but acting -- I could barely get through school," he told People in 1977. After a successful start in theater, Duvall made his film debut in 1962's To Kill a Mockingbird, later earning praise for his turn in Robert Altman's 1970 movie M*A*S*H. But Duvall's biggest breakout came with 1972's The Godfather, as the Corleone crime family's coolheaded consigliere Tom Hagen. Nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar, he reprised the role in 1974's The Godfather Part II (though he famously declined to return for 1990's The Godfather Part III over a salary dispute). Still, the actor did not especially crave the limelight. "Being a leading man... it's an agent's dream, not an actor's," he once opined.

Then came a year of career-changing opportunities in 1979: Apocalypse Now, with Duvall as the amoral Lt. Col. Kilgore, and The Great Santini, as the hard-as-nails Marine Lt. Col. "Bull" Meechum, the latter of which earned him his first best actor Oscar nomination. He won the Oscar four years later for playing a washed-up country singer in 1983's Tender Mercies and on television he followed with the indelible Emmy-nominated 1989 western epic Lonesome Dove. "After that I felt I could retire, that I'd done something," he told The New York Times.

But he never did retire. Duvall ventured behind the camera, directing the 1997 religious drama The Apostle and the 2002 thriller Assassination Tango while enjoying hobbies like tango and martial arts. He was married four times: to actress and dancer Barbara Benjamin (from 1964 to 1975; actress Gail Youngs (1982 to 1986); dancer Sharon Brophy (1991 to 1995); and Pedraza (whom he wed in 2005).

Even in recent years the ever-blunt Duvall remained passionate about his work. "I've done a lot of crap, but I've done a lot of good stuff too," he told The Daily Beast in 2018. "You always wish there was one more. It's like the great jumping-horse riders -- always looking for the horse, the horse."  

Flashback to 1978!

From People's Feb. 6, 1978, issue.

THE BEE GEES ARE 'STAYIN' ALIVE' AND KICKING AMID A THIRD CAREER PEAK

he British-born Bee Gees -- Gibb brothers Barry, 31, and non-identical twins Robin and Maurice, 28 -- have been variously up, down or out during their 22-year music career. They were splintered for 15 months by sibling ego spats and weakened by Maurice's drinking problems. It was "immaturity," Maurice says of the split. Explains Barry: "We'd become enemies -- the magic was lost." They reunited and were up again at the turn of the decade and then out for much of the next few years. But in 1975-76 they amassed four monster hits that elevated them atop the disco-soul heap. Saturday Night Fever's soundtrack, dominated by the trio's music, moved 200,000 copies a week, finally dislodging Fleetwood Mac's Rumours from No. 1. For now the Bee Gees are hanging together tougher than ever. The brothers have just wrapped filming Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in which they costar with Peter Frampton and sing 32 Lennon-McCartney classics. Asks Barry reverently: "What group wouldn't be thrilled to sing those songs?"

IN THE NEWS: FEB. 1978

Disbandment: Following the Sex Pistols' sold-out American tour, the rock band's manager said the members decided to kick out lead singer Johnny Rotten, 22, for his "destructive" behavior. Rotten, né John Lydon, claimed their were no disagreements, and the breakup was mutual.

Progress: Sally Ride, 26, and five other women, became the first prospective female astronauts after NASA selected them for its space shuttle program.

Who Knew: "I relate to young people who are anti-fashion." - Ralph Lauren

PICKS & PANS

Draw the Line by Aerosmith  This latest LP falls short of Aerosmith's best work, although some cuts ("Critical Mass," "Get It Up") fully define leader Steven Tyler's real, raw power.

High Anxiety  Mel Brooks is a psychiatrist who takes over an institution for the "very nervous." The audience is subjected to a takeoff that never quite leaves the runway.  

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