Robert Duvall, the tough guy of American cinema between “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now” has died

He died at 95 years oldRobert Duvalll’Oscar-winning actorfamous for “The Godfather“, “Apocalypse Now” and many other tough guy roles over the course of asuccessful film careerlasted six decades.

Duvall died “peacefully” Sunday at his home inMiddleburg, in Virginiaaccording to a statement sent by its public relations agency on behalf of thewife Luciana.

None will be heldofficial ceremonywe read in the press release. Instead, “thefamily encouragesthose who desirehonor his memoryto do so in a way that reflects the life he has lived,watching a good movietelling a good story at the table with friends or taking a drive in the countryside to appreciate thebeauty of the world“.

The lawyer in The Godfather and the lieutenant in Apocalypse

Robert Duvall, the unforgettable face of American cinema capable of spanning over half a century of Hollywood without ever bowing to stardom, has died at the age of 95. His wife Luciana announced it, confirming that the actor passed away yesterday in their home. “We said goodbye to my beloved husband, treasured friend and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob went peacefully home,” she wrote. To audiences he was an Oscar-winning legend, director and storyteller; for her, “simply everything”.

A shy, direct and prolific actor, allergic to the spotlight but magnetic on the screen, Duvall won the Oscar for best actor in 1983 for “Tender Mercies – A Tender Thank You”, where he played a country singer in his twilight. He was nominated six more times during a career that lasted six decades, in which he shone both as a protagonist and as a supporting character, even going behind the camera. Among the most memorable roles are the loyal and measured mafia advisor Tom Hagen in the first two chapters of “The Godfather” and above all Lieutenant Colonel William Kilgore in “Apocalypse Now“, obsessed with surfing amid the hell of the Vietnam War.

One of the most famous lines in the history of cinema is his.”I love the smell of napalm in the morning” pronounced shirtless, wearing a cowboy hat, while planes bomb the coast where he dreams of riding the waves. The character, initially thought to be even more extreme, was scaled down at Duvall’s request, reflecting his meticulous approach to acting.
Arriving late to success, he was already 31 years old when he made his mark in 1962 in the role of the mysterious Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Duvall built a gallery of unforgettable characters: from the ruthless executive of “Fifth Estate” to the authoritarian Marine officer of “The great Santini“.

Curiously, the role that he himself loved most was not film but television: the Texan ranger Augustus McCrae in the 1989 miniseries “Lonesome Dove”, an ironic and disenchanted figure taken from the novel by Larry McMurtry.
For critics he was a silent giant: “The most technically competent, most versatile and most convincing actor on the screen in the United States”, the scholar Elaine Mancini defined him. A judgment that summarizes a career built without fanfare, but destined to remain among the most solid and influential in the history of cinema.