Robert Duvall has passed away at the age of 95, closing the life of one of Hollywood’s most raw performers. For decades, he never relied on celebrity headlines or flashy publicity, yet filmmakers and audiences trusted him completely.
Today, fans and film lovers look back at the long road that turned him into a legend. Let’s take a look at his career that grew through years of discipline, risk-taking roles, and dedication. Read on to see how Robert Duvall eventually became a Hollywood great.
The Break That Put Robert Duvall On The Big Screen
Robert Selden Duvall grew up in a military household and described himself as a “navy brat” because his father served his entire career in the United States Navy and expected him to attend the Naval Academy at Annapolis. However, Duvall chose a different direction. After graduating from college, he served two years in the Army and then committed himself to acting.
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Soon afterward, he moved to New York and studied performance. During that time, he met Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman, friendships that lasted for life. Years later, he shared that someone once offered him his last $300 after he broke his pelvis, and that person was Hackman.
At the same time, stage acting at the Gateway Playhouse in Long Island became his training ground. He performed plays by Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, and Horton Foote noticed him in ‘The Midnight Caller‘. As a result, Foote recommended him for Boo Radley in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird‘.
The Roles That Established Duvall’s Authority and Reputation
After gaining early film experience, his career grew further when he worked with Francis Ford Coppola on ‘The Rain People‘. Soon he played Tom Hagen in ‘The Godfather‘, the trusted adviser to Don Vito Corleone. The performance earned him his first Academy Award nomination in 1973. He then returned in ‘The Godfather: Part II‘, which proved to be a turning point in his career.
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Meanwhile, other important roles included Major Burns in ‘MASH‘, the lead in George Lucas’s ‘THX 1138‘, and appearances alongside Michael Caine in ‘The Eagle Has Landed‘. Then, in 1979, he delivered one of cinema’s most famous moments as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore in ‘Apocalypse Now‘. Consequently, these performances earned him consecutive Oscar nominations, a Bafta, and his first Golden Globe award.
Even though Robert Duvall never took the OG route to stardom, he was proof that success can come by delivering honest performances year after year.
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