Robert Duvall, All-Purpose Actor With Few Peers, Dies at 95

[BumRushDaShow]

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/

[Kid Berwyn]

1. Duvall sure could cowboy, too.

[mtngirl47]

11. Lonesome Dove...one of my favorites of all time! RIP

[Gak73]

20. Mine too

Loved Gus!

[SergeStorms]

16. Open Range.....

another great Western he played in.

In my opinion, there wasn't a single film he did that wasn't improved upon by his presence in it. He was that damned great.

[Hey Joe]

2. He was one of the legitimately greatest

actors of my generation.
Always a pleasure watching him portray any role with ease and confidence.
A natural.

[ificandream]

3. That performance as Boo Radley is underappreciated.

That was one hell of a performance for his film debut.

[maxsolomon]

4. RIP

Great in everything he was in.

[DenaliDemocrat]

5. What a loss.

I feel this one.

[Leghorn21]

6. Yes, DD

It's a new world now

At least he will be properly mourned and appreciated by his myriad admirers

It sure stings, though...

[LoveSucky]

7. Not too many Godfather actors still alive.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Al Pacino is still around

but we did lose Diane Keaton this past fall.

I remember seeing the first "Godfather" back in '72 on the HUGE SCREEN (drive-in). I know people always reference the "horse's head" scene but I'll never forget what happened to James Caan and the slow-motion machine gun dispatching (and I was a fan of James Caan and was like - WAIT! NO! ).

[FakeNoose]

13. I had read the book first, so I knew it was coming

... I'm referring to James Caan's shooting scene.

But Robert Duvall - the Consigliere - he was a revelation in the first Godfather. Even having read the book first, I thought Duvall played the part so much better on the screen than he was written in the book. The audience expects Marlon Brando to dominate, and he did. But Duvall handled it and played off him in every scene they were in together. They were brilliant and the main reason it was such a great movie. In my opinion Al Pacino did more of a star-turn in Godfather II.

Rest in Peace, Robert Duvall, and thanks for all the great movies!

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Pacino was much younger than Brando or Duvall

so he was just getting his feet wet so that he could eventually take off in "Godfather II".

With all the "mafia" films that happened since that first "Godfather" (like "Goodfellas" ), I think they set the stage for taking it up a notch on "the little screen" with "The Sopranos" (RIP James Gandolfini).

[AdamGG]

42. I read the book, but was glad the film didn't include

details about Lucy Mancini's vagina.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. Didn't know he was still alive

RIP

[milestogo]

10. A great actor.

RIP Mr Duvall.

[area51]

12. RIP

[eppur_se_muova]

14. I loved/hated him in "A Civil Action". I kept forgetting I was watching an actor, not a real-life villain.

The character he portrayed was loathsome, but dangerously shrewd. It really made the movie.

[AllaN01Bear]

17. ""

[OGBuzz]

18. One of the greats. R.I.P.

[BigmanPigman]

19. Duvall and Gene Hackman roomed with Dustin Hoffman

in NYC in the 1960's. Hackman died just about a year ago a d he was 95 too.

"Robert Duvall was roommates and close friends with both Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman in New York City during the late 1950s and early 1960s while they were all struggling, unknown actors. The trio, often referred to as "the three musketeers," lived in or shared apartments on the Upper West Side and supported each other through a period of, at times, uncertain futures before becoming major Hollywood stars."

[FakeNoose]

21. Oh my gosh, I never knew that

Great story!

[IcyPeas]

22. I love the movie "Tender Mercies"

He did the actual singing in the movie and wrote some of the songs too.

[Bayard]

23. Oh, man........

One of my great favorites, especially in the Westerns, Lonesome Dove, and Open Range. As one character said in OR--he sure could cowboy.

Not many like him anymore.

[mdbl]

24. RIP

Thank you for all the great entertainment over the decades.

[wolfie001]

25. Of all the great roles he played, this is the one that stands out to me. Freaking iconic!

[OAITW r.2.0]

36. Me too, He brought the Gung-Ho mentality in that moment.

[turbinetree]

26. He had seven Oscar nominations and this movie was one of them..............The Judge in 2014

and he was a Private First Class.............

[nwliberalkiwi]

27. Another role he played

Stalin

[happybird]

28. He was one of our regular customers at a workplace years ago

Not only was he a legendary actor, but also a genuinely nice guy, totally down-to-Earth and gracious. It was always exciting when he came into the shop, to interact with him, but we were good at cloaking the awe and treating him like any other customer, which I think he appreciated.

May he rest in peace.

[Sam I Yam]

29. One of the Greats

The Great Santini is in my Top 20 Movies of All Time list.
Apocalypse Now is in my Top 5.

[Talitha]

30. Damn....

[srose58089]

31. I loved him in secondhand lions

A great comedy and movie

[MaineNative]

32. IMO the true measure of an actor

is how much he or she makes your skin crawl. He did that as Lt. Col. William Bill Kilgore, in Apocalypse Now, and later Swing-blade. RIP and thank you for so much.

[MissMillie]

33. One of my all-time favorites

His performance in Tender Mercies was beyond stellar.

RIP Mr. Duvall. Thank you for sharing your gifts w/ us.

[OAITW r.2.0]

34. A great actor...in many films that made an impression on me.

[JoseBalow]

35. A sad loss, he will be missed

RIP, sports fan

[Loisita123]

37. A great loss

The movie Tomorrow has stayed with me all these years since I saw it in 1972, in a theatre in Grants New Mexico. I may have been the only person in the theatre that night.
RIP

[electric_blue68]

38. RIP Mr Duval...

I remember him (he was 33) as Agent Ballard in a 2 part Outer Limits in 1964.
He was investigating ?Korean War soldiers who had become geniuses in several fields of science, and finance; becoming involved in some mysterious project together.

[Upthevibe]

39. One of the best of our time.

R.I.P, Mr. Duval.

[tirebiter]

40. He was the first to get into Major Hotpants pants as a god fearing Major Frank Burns

Oh, Frank!

[HeartsCanHope]

41. So many good performances, but I love Secondhand Lions, and another movie called A Family Thing with James Earl Jones.

He was such a versatile actor. May he rest in peace.