Khaberni - After a prosperous artistic career, the legendary actor Robert Duvall has departed our world at the age of 95, leaving behind an unforgettable cinematic legacy, marked by the diversity of his roles and his exceptional dedication, from portraying the courageous consigliere in the first two films of the "Godfather" series to playing an elderly country music singer in "Tender Mercies," establishing him as one of the pillars of classic American cinema.
According to "Associated Press," Duvall died "peacefully" at his home on Sunday in Middleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his agent and a statement published by his wife Luciana Duvall on his Facebook page.
A touching tribute to an exceptional figure
In her moving tribute, Luciana Duvall wrote: "To the world, he was an Oscar-winning actor, director, and writer, but to me, he was simply everything. His passion for his art was matched only by his deep love for his characters, for enjoying delicious meals, and for sitting with others. In every one of his many roles, Bob gave his all for his characters and the human spirit they represented."
Duvall, the slim, bald man, not only had the look of a star but few actors have had a long, rewarding, and unexpected career like his, in leading and supporting roles, from a wandering preacher to Joseph Stalin.
Duvall began his film career in 1962 with the role of Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in "To Kill a Mockingbird," delivering a series of unforgettable performances, which earned him seven Oscar nominations, winning Best Actor for "Tender Mercies" which was released in 1983.
Duvall also won four Golden Globe awards, including one for his portrayal of the philosophical cattle ranch owner in the miniseries "Lonesome Dove" in 1989, a role he always considered his favorite.
He had been acting for about twenty years when “The Godfather,” released in 1972, established his status as one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. He had previously starred in "The Rain People" with Francis Ford Coppola, who also selected him to portray Tom Hagen in the mafia epic featuring Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, and others.
Duvall masterfully played the role of the Irishman among Italians, rarely being the center of the scene but often listening and advising from behind the scenes, forming an indispensable thread in the Corleone family's criminal saga.
An ideal pivot player
Critic David Thomson wrote: "Both the stars and the Italians depended on his competence, and on his handling of matters after their acrobatic movements, and on being an ideal pivot player in a team of prominent characters. Was there ever a role specifically designed for an actor better than Tom Hagen in the two parts of 'The Godfather'?"
In another film by Coppola, "Apocalypse Now," Duvall was prominently mad, embodying disrupted masculinity with the character of Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, who enjoyed both surfing and bombing raids on the Viet Cong.
Duvall needed only a few attempts to film one of the most famous scenes in cinema history, in which a shirtless Kilgore, wearing a cavalry hat in the battlefield, exclaimed: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning, you know, one time we bombed a hill for 12 hours. When it was all over, I came up, we didn't find one of them, not one stinking body."
"I feel proud.. but I am still hungry for more"
Duvall was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for both "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now," but a financial dispute led him to reject the third part of the "Godfather" series, a loss deeply felt by critics, fans, and his peers in “The Godfather”. He publicly complained about receiving less pay than his colleagues.
Oscar Award
Duvall won the Oscar in 1984 for his lead role in "Tender Mercies" as the troubled singer-songwriter Mac Sledge.
In 1998, he was nominated for Best Actor for "The Apostle," a drama film covering the story of a wayward southern preacher, which Duvall wrote, directed, starred in, produced, and substantially funded. As usual, he visited dozens of rural churches and spent 12 years writing the screenplay and trying to produce the film.
Among the other notable roles he presented were: the gang leader ambushed by John Wayne in "True Grit"; Jesse James in "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid"; religious and beleaguered Frank Burns in the series "MASH"; the television hatchet man in "Network"; Dr. Watson in "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution"; and the sadistic father in "The Great Santini."
In his mid-eighties, he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 2014 film "The Judge," where he plays a man accused of causing someone's death in a hit-and-run accident. Among his more recent films were "Widows" and “12 Mighty Orphans”.
"Not talented in school.. but legendary on the stage"
Robert Selden Duvall grew up in the naval cities of Annapolis and San Diego, born in 1931, and spent time in other cities where his father, who rose to become an admiral, was stationed in different assignments.
The boy's experience aided his adult career as he learned the nuances of regional accents and observed the psychology of military men, which he portrayed in several films.
It is said that Duvall drew the character of the explosive military officer in "The Great Santini," adapted from a novel by Pat Conroy, from his father, a navy officer. Duvall commented in 2003 saying, "My father was a noble man, but he was quick-tempered, strict, angry, and often traveled."
Duvall inherited his talent for playing the guitar and acting from his mother, an amateur actress. He was also a wrestler like his father, enjoying defeating older children.
He lacked the necessary focus for his studies and almost failed at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, where his desperate parents decided he needed something to keep him in college so as not to be drafted into the Korean War.
