But by 1977, Duvall was upset about the roles he was getting and wanted to move out of supporting roles into starring ones. So he starred in David Mamet’s American Buffalo on Broadway. He told PEOPLE at the time, « People keep asking me, ‘Why walk away when you’re hot?’ I hope this will get me better film roles. »
Still, he wasn’t sure he really wanted to be a leading man. « To be a McQueen or a Redford, » he said, « I don’t know. They do the same thing all the time. They do themselves, and that must get boring. »
March 1984 Robert Duvall The 1984 Academy Awards Deadline Room in Los Angeles, CA.
Robert Duvall with his Oscar in 1984.
Duvall received a third Oscar nomination in 1980 for his leading role in The Great Santini. In 1983, he directed Angelo My Love, a movie about Romani people.
Duvall won an Oscar, for Best Actor, in 1983 for Tender Mercies. He told PEOPLE in 1984, weeks before the ceremony, « I guess the main reason I want the Academy Award is for the artistic power and freedom it gives you. The right to choose your own director, to have control over the project. »
Actor Robert Duvall accepts the Oustanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie award for « Broken Trail » onstage during the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on September 16, 2007 in Los Angeles, California.
Other film credits for Duvall included Network (1976), Days of Thunder (1990), The Scarlet Letter (1995), Sling Blade (1996), Deep Impact (1998), Thank You for Smoking (2005) and Jack Reacher (2012). He earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for 1997’s The Apostle, and in 2014, Duvall starred with Robert Downey Jr. in The Judge, which earned him his seventh Oscar nomination.
Duvall never retired. Later roles for the actor included 2018’s Widows, 2022’s The Pale Blue Eye and 2022’s Hustle.
Though he appeared less often on television than on the big screen, Duvall was a five-time Emmy nominee. He won twice, for acting in and executive producing the AMC miniseries Broken Trail.He wed Barbara Benjamin in 1964, and they split in 1975. From 1982 to 1985, he was married to Gail Youngs. He was married to Sharon Brophy from 1991 to 1995.
Duvall married Luciana Pedraza in 2005; they began dating in 1996. She appeared alongside him in the 2003 film Assassination Tango, which he also wrote and directed.
In 2021, Duvall appeared on PEOPLE (The TV Show!) while promoting his film 12 Mighty Orphans, and he discussed what life was like after 70 years of acting in front of the camera.When asked what he loved most about being 90, Duvall said, « Love the most? I don’t know if I love any of it, but day to day with my wonderful wife. »
« She takes care of me, and I have good friends and try to work out and keep in some kind of shape, » he continued.
