Oscar Winner Robert Duvall Dies at 95 After Seven-Decade Career [WATCH]

Robert Duvall, the Academy Award-winning actor known for roles in “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now,” has died at the age of 95, as reported by Page Six.

His wife, Luciana Duvall, confirmed that he died on Feb. 15. In a message posted to Facebook on Monday, she announced his passing.

JUST IN – Robert Duvall, famous for his roles in “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now,” dead at 95 — Sky pic.twitter.com/RMkgjyllSl

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“Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time,” Luciana, 54, wrote. She added that he “passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort.”

“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller,” she continued. “To me, he was simply everything. His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court.”

Luciana said that Robert “gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented” in his many roles.

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“In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable to us all,” she wrote. “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.”

Her tribute included a photo of the couple on their Virginia ranch, posing with a horse and two dogs.

Born Jan. 5, 1931, in San Diego, California, Duvall was raised in Annapolis, Maryland, near the Naval Academy, where his father worked. He and his two brothers grew up in a military family environment before he chose to pursue acting.

Duvall studied drama at Principia College in Illinois and later at New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse. His classmates there included Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and James Caan.

During the 1960s, he lived in New York City with Hoffman and Hackman while they worked to establish their careers.

His first major film role came in 1962 when he portrayed Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

He was recommended for the part by screenwriter Horton Foote, with whom he had previously worked on the 1957 play “The Midnight Caller.”

Duvall earned his first Academy Award nomination in 1972 for best supporting actor for his role as Tom Hagen in “The Godfather.” He reprised the role in 1974’s “The Godfather Part II.”

“It always comes back to ‘The Godfather.’ The first ones are two of the best films ever made. About a quarter of the way into it, we knew we had something special,” Duvall told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2012.

He did not return for 1990’s “The Godfather Part III” because of salary disagreements with Paramount Pictures, according to comments from director Francis Ford Coppola in DVD commentary cited by Screen Rant.

Duvall reunited with Coppola in 1979’s “Apocalypse Now,” where he delivered the line, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”

That performance earned him his second Oscar nomination. Coppola later said of him in a 2003 interview with People, “Actors click into character at different times — the first week, third week.

Bobby’s hot after one or two takes. That’s all he needs.”

He received additional Oscar nominations for “The Great Santini” (1979), “The Apostle” (1997), “A Civil Action” (1998), and “The Judge” (2014). He won the Academy Award for best actor in 1984 for “Tender Mercies,” playing country singer Mac Sledge.

His filmography also included “True Grit” (1969), “MAS*H” (1970), “THX 1138” (1971), “Tomorrow” (1972), “Days of Thunder” (1990), “The Paper” (1994), “Gone in 60 Seconds” (2000), “Gods and Generals” (2003), “Four Christmases” (2008), “Crazy Heart” (2009) and “Jack Reacher.”

His final film appearances were in “Hustle” and “The Pale Blue Eye,” both released in 2022.

Duvall also had a long television career. He won two Emmy Awards for starring in and executive producing the 2006 AMC miniseries “Broken Trail.”

He was nominated for Emmys for “Lonesome Dove” (1989) and the television films “Stalin” and “The Man Who Captured Eichmenn.”

In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, Hoffman described Duvall as “outrageous” and “uncensored,” saying he would “do anything on impulse.”

In the same interview, Duvall said Hackman — who died in February 2025 at age 95 — was “a tormented guy” who was “always into his own space, his own thing.”

Duvall was married four times and had no children. In 2007, he said, “I guess I’m shooting blanks. (I’ve tried) with a lot of different women, in and out of marriage.”

He married Barbara Benjamin in 1964; they divorced in 1975. He was later married to Gail Youngs from 1982 to 1986 and Sharon Brophy from 1991 to 1995. He married Luciana, his fourth wife, in 2005.

Luciana, an Argentine actress and director, is the granddaughter of aviation pioneer Susana Ferrari Billinghurst. Duvall told Esquire in 2010 how they met.

“I met my wife in Argentina. The flower shop was closed, so I went to the bakery. If the flower shop had been open, I never would’ve met her,” he said.

He acknowledged the age difference between them and recalled advice he sought.

“So I asked [actor] Wilford Brimley about it. Wilford is a very sharp guy. He used to be a bodyguard for Howard Hughes,” Duvall said.

“He said, ‘Let me tell you something, my friend, the worst thing in the world for an old man is an old woman!’”

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