Farewell to Robert Duvall, Oscar winner and American film icon

The 1970s were the decade that consecrated him: after "M.A.S.H." (1970) by Rober Altman, he starred in George Lucas's debut film "The Man Who Fled From The Future" (1971), although the unforgettable role of these years was that of Tom in "The Godfather" (1972): in the part of Vito Corleone's stepson and advisor, Duvall shows how even parts considered "secondary" can be fundamental for the realisation of a (boss) job like that. Thanks to 'The Godfather', he won the first of six Oscar nominations.

In addition to returning in 'The Godfather - Part II' (1974), during the decade he also worked for Sam Peckinpah ('Killer Elite') and Sidney Lumet ('Fifth Estate'), but it was still Francis Ford Coppola who would definitively consign him to legend with 'Apocalypse Now' (1979), a film that would lead to his second Oscar nomination and first Golden Globe win, again as a supporting actor.

As the insane Lieutenant-Colonel Kilgore (who loves the smell of napalm in the morning...) Duvall admirably plays another deviant, psychologically unstable figure, demonstrating all his ability to make such delicate characters believable.

after his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1981 for Lewis John Carlino's "The Great Santini", Duvall lifted the coveted statuette (again in a leading role) in 1984 for his emotional performance in Bruce Beresford's "Tender Mercies", in which he played an alcoholic country singer. This role also won him his second Golden Globe and was followed by two more for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie in 1990 for "Lonesome Dove" and in 1993 for "Stalin".

The Academy Award and the four Golden Globes, however, remain only the jewel in the crown of the very rich palmarès he has earned throughout his long career.

Also worth mentioning is his debut behind the camera in 1983 in 'Angel, My Love', which was to be followed by three more feature films. The best of these was undoubtedly 'The Apostle' in 1997, which was presented at the Cannes Film Festival and for which Duvall received a third Oscar nomination as Best Actor in a Leading Role.

 Always mixing film and television, Duvall went on to win major awards and two more Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor for 'A Civil Action' in 1999 and for 'The Judge' in 2015.

Despite the passing of the years, during the new millennium Duvall gave life to numerous other roles, secondary but still capable of remaining impressed in the public's mind: we need only think of James Gray's 'Masters of the Night', John Hillcoat's 'The Road' or 'Jack Reacher', next to Tom Cruise, but we have also seen him in the last few years - when he had already blown out ninety candles - in other interesting works such as 'The Pale Blue Eye' and 'Hustle', both from 2022.

A bit like Gene Hackman, who left us exactly one year ago (it was 18 February 2025), another of the symbols of the most important revolution in Hollywood thus leaves this world while his films can only live on forever.