Robert Duvall

Early life, family and education

Robert Selden Duvall was born on January 5, 1931, in San Diego, California, to Mildred Virginia Duvall, an amateur actress, and Rear Admiral William Howard Duvall of the United States Navy. He was the second of three sons, with an older brother, William Jr., and a younger brother, John, who became an entertainment lawyer. His father was from Virginia and descended from early Maryland settler Mareen Duvall. Raised in the Christian Science religion, Duvall later noted he did not attend church.

He spent much of his childhood in Annapolis, Maryland, where his father was stationed at the United States Naval Academy. He attended Severn School in Severna Park, Maryland, and The Principia in St. Louis, Missouri, before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, in 1953. His father expected him to attend the US Naval Academy, but Duvall recalled being terrible at everything but acting. He served in the United States Army after the Korean War, from August 19, 1953, to August 20, 1954, leaving as private first class.

While stationed at Camp Gordon in Georgia, he appeared in an amateur production of the comedy Room Service in nearby Augusta. In the winter of 1955, he attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City, studying under Sanford Meisner on the G.I. Bill. His classmates included Gene Hackman and James Caan. While training, he worked as a Manhattan post office clerk.

He remained close friends with Dustin Hoffman and Hackman, whom he had known since their years as struggling actors. In 1955, Duvall roomed with Hoffman in a New York City apartment while they studied together, and around the same time shared accommodation with Hackman while working odd jobs.

Career

Duvall began his professional acting career with the Gateway Playhouse, an Equity summer theater in Bellport, Long Island, New York. His stage debut was in its 1952 season, playing the Pilot in Laughter in the Stars, an adaptation of The Little Prince. After a year away while serving in the U.S. Army, he returned to Gateway for its 1955 summer season, appearing in several plays including Time Out for Ginger, Picnic, The Cat and the Canary, The Crucible, and Dark of the Moon.

During Gateway's 1956 season, he played roles in Dial M for Murder, Bus Stop, and I Am a Camera. In its 1957 season, he appeared in Witness for the Prosecution, Thieves' Carnivall, and the role he described as the catalyst of his career: Eddie Carbone in A View from the Bridge, directed by Ulu Grosbard. He made his feature film debut in a small role as Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). His other early roles included Bullitt, True Grit, M*A*S*H, THX 1138, and Tomorrow, the last of which was developed at the Actors Studio and was his personal favorite. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as an alcoholic former country music star in Tender Mercies (1983). His other Oscar-nominated roles included The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, The Apostle, A Civil Action, and The Judge. He also won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for the AMC limited series Broken Trail (2006).

Personal life and death

Robert Duvall has been married four times and never had biological children. In 2007, he joked, "I guess I'm shooting blanks," adding that he had tried with many women both inside and outside of marriage. He met his first wife, Barbara Benjamin, while filming To Kill a Mockingbird in 1962. She had worked as an announcer and dancer on The Jackie Gleason Show and had appeared in Guys and Dolls and The Courtship of Eddie's Father under the stage name Barbara Brent.

Benjamin brought two daughters from an earlier marriage into the relationship, and the couple stayed together from 1964 until 1975. His second marriage, to Gail Youngs, lasted from 1982 to 1986; through her, Duvall briefly became the brother-in-law of actors John Savage, Robin Young, and Jim Youngs. He then married dancer Sharon Brophy in 1991, a union that ended in 1995. In 2005, Duvall wed Luciana Pedraza, whose grandmother was Argentine aviation pioneer Susana Ferrari Billinghurst.

The pair met in Argentina, and Duvall recalled that a closed flower shop led him to a bakery instead, where they crossed paths. Both share a January 5 birthday, though Duvall is 41 years older. They had been together since 1997. Duvall produced, directed, and starred alongside Pedraza in the 2002 film Assassination Tango, much of which was shot in Buenos Aires.

A skilled Argentine tango dancer, he ran tango studios in both Argentina and the United States. He also trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and practiced martial arts with his wife. Politically, Duvall was often labeled libertarian or conservative. He received a personal invitation to George W. Bush’s 2001 inauguration, supported Rudy Giuliani in the 2008 Republican primaries, worked the floor at the GOP’s 2008 convention, appeared at a John McCain–Sarah Palin rally in New Mexico that same year, and endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012.

By 2014, he expressed dissatisfaction with the Republican Party, calling it a mess and considering a switch to independent. In 2001, Duvall and Pedraza founded the Robert Duvall Children’s Fund, which renovates homes, schools, and medical facilities for families in northern Argentina. They also supported Pro Mujer, a nonprofit aiding impoverished women in Latin America, focusing on Pedraza’s home region in the Argentine Northwest.

Accolades and awards

Vincent Canby, the chief film critic for the New York Times, famously dubbed Robert Duvall "the American Olivier," a comparison to the legendary Laurence Olivier that stuck. Al Pacino, his co-star in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, called working with Duvall an honor, describing him as a born actor with a phenomenal gift. Director Scott Cooper, who worked with Duvall on multiple films, told The Guardian that Duvall's legacy is secure and that he is one of the greatest actors ever, with work that will last as long as cinema.

Duvall won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as an alcoholic former country music star in Tender Mercies. His other accolades include a British Academy Film Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. The Academy recognized him with nominations for The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, The Apostle, A Civil Action, and The Judge.