Robert Duvall, All-Purpose Actor With Few Peers, Dies at 95 [View all]

Source: Hollywood Reporter

February 16, 2026 10:05am


Robert Duvall, the steely-eyed actor whose performances in the first two Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, Lonesome Dove and The Apostle made him one of the finest actors of any generation, has died. He was 95.

Duvall, who received an Academy Award — one of his seven Oscar nominations — for his performance as an alcoholic country singer in Tender Mercies (1983), died Sunday at home on his Virginia ranch, his wife, Luciana, announced.

“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” she said in a statement. “His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented. In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable to us all. Thank you for the years of support you showed Bob and for giving us this time and privacy to celebrate the memories he leaves behind.”

Duvall distinguished himself as an actor of major promise — even though he didn’t have a line of dialogue — when he portrayed the reclusive Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Horton Foote, the film’s screenwriter, personally recommended him for the role after seeing Duvall onstage in New York a few years earlier in Foote’s The Midnight Caller.


Read more: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/robert-duvall-dead-godfather-apocalypse-now-1236506861/