« To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything, » she added. « 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 was born in San Diego, Calif., in 1931. His father was a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, and Duvall and his two brothers were raised primarily in Annapolis, Md., near the Naval Academy. His father was often away. « One time he came home after a long period at sea, and he spoke sharply to my younger brother, and my younger brother said to my mother, ‘Tell that man to go home.’ Because, you know, he didn’t connect, » Duvall told GQ in 2014.
His father expected him to follow in his footsteps, but Duvall took another path. « I was terrible at everything but acting — I could barely get through school, » he told PEOPLE in 1977. After high school, he joined the Army and served in Korea, though he never saw combat.When he returned, his parents encouraged him to pursue acting. He studied drama at Principia College in Illinois and after graduation moved to New York to study under Sanford Meisner at New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse. His classmates included Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and James Caan, who all became lifelong friends.
Duvall became involved in New York theater and impressed playwright-screenwriter Horton Foote in his play The Midnight Caller. Foote also wrote the screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird and recommended Duvall to play Boo Radley. It was the actor’s big-screen debut.
« I want my work to be true, » he told PEOPLE in 1984. « Pure. Not a false note from the start to finish. »In 1965, he won an Obie for his Off Broadway performance in A View from the Bridge, and he made his Broadway debut in 1966’s Wait Until Dark.
Duvall became renowned for his work as a character actor, and in the ’60s appeared in movies like Bullitt and True Grit. He received acclaim in 1970 for his work in M*A*S*H, and the next year he starred in THX 1138, the first film directed by George Lucas. In 1972, he appeared in The Godfather as Tom Hagen, the pseudo-adopted son of the Corleone family who remains an outsider. It earned him his first Oscar nomination, and he reprised the role in the 1974 sequel.Francis Ford Coppola, who directed Duvall in The Godfather films and Apocalypse Now, told PEOPLE of the actor in 2003, « 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. »
Duvall joked at the time that his only regret about The Godfather was that he didn’t have « a better hairpiece. » He was also inspired by working closely with his costar Marlon Brando, whom he called « a hero » and « a king. »
« About a third of the way through [filming] Godfather I said, ‘We’re really doing something, I think, pretty special here that will live on for a long time to come,’ » Duvall told the AV Club in 2022. « I felt that we were making a really important film. »In Coppola’s 1979 classic Apocalypse Now, Duvall played Lt. Col. Kilgore. He told PEOPLE in 2003 that he nailed the iconic line — « I love the smell of napalm in the morning » — in just a take to two. He said, « Just got up and did it. An epic scene and a fun film to do. » He received his second Oscar nomination for the movie.
