Robert Duvall Biography
Born: January 05, 1931
One of Hollywood's most distinguished, popular, and versatile actors, Robert Duvall possesses a rare gift for totally immersing himself in his roles. Born in San Diego, CA, in 1931 and raised by an admiral, Duvall fought in Korea for two years after graduating from Principia College. Upon his Army discharge, he moved to New York to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where he won much acclaim for his portrayal of a longshoreman in +A View From the Bridge. He later acted in stock and off-Broadway, and had his onscreen debut as Gregory_Peck's simple-minded neighbor Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).
With his intense expressions and chiseled features, Duvall frequently played troubled, lonely characters in such films as The_Chase (1966) during his early film career. Whatever the role, however, he brought to it an almost tangible intensity tempered by an ability to make his characters real (in contrast to some contemporaries who never let viewers forget that they were watching a star playing a role). Though well-respected and popular, Duvall largely eschewed the traditionally glitzy life of a Hollywood star; at the same time, he worked with some of the greatest directors over the years. This included a long association with Francis_Ford_Coppola, for whom he worked in two Godfather movies (in 1972 and 1974) and Apocalypse_Now (1979). The actor's several Oscar nominations included one for his performance as a dyed-in-the-wool military father who victimizes his family with his disciplinarian tirades in The_Great_Santini (1980). For his portrayal of a has-been country singer in Tender_Mercies -- a role for which he composed and performed his own songs -- Duvall earned his first Academy Award for Best Actor. He also directed and co-produced 1983's Angelo_My_Love and earned praise for his memorable appearance in Rambling_Rose in 1991. One of Duvall's greatest personal triumphs was the production of 1997's The_Apostle, the powerful tale of a fallen Southern preacher who finds redemption. He had written the script 15 years earlier, but was unable to find a backer, so, in the mid-'90s, he financed the film himself. Directing and starring in the piece, Duvall earned considerable acclaim, including another Best Actor Oscar nomination.
The 1990s were a good decade for Duvall. Though not always successful, his films brought him steady work and great variety. Not many other actors could boast of playing such a diversity of characters: from a retired Cuban barber in 1993's Wrestling_Ernest_Hemingway to an ailing editor in The_Paper (1994) to the abusive father of a mentally impaired murderer in the harrowing Sling_Blade (1996) to James_Earl_Jones's brother in the same year's A_Family_Thing (which he also produced). Duvall took on two very different father roles in 1998, first in the asteroid extravaganza Deep_Impact and then in Robert_Altman's The_Gingerbread_Man. Throughout his career, Duvall has also continued to work on the stage. In addition, he occasionally appeared in such TV miniseries as Lonesome_Dove (1989) and Stalin (1992), and has even done voice-over work for Lexus commercials. In the early 2000s, he continued his balance between supporting roles in big-budget films and meatier parts in smaller efforts. He supported Nicolas_Cage in Gone in 60 Seconds and Denzel_Washington in John_Q., but he also put out his second directorial effort, Assassination_Tango (under the aegis of old friend Coppola), which allowed him to film one of his life's great passions -- the tango. In 2003, Kevin_Costner gave Duvall an outstanding role in his old-fashioned Western Open_Range, and Duvall responded with one of his most enjoyable performances.
Duvall subsequently worked in a number of additional films, including playing opposite Will Ferrell in the soccer comedy Kicking & Screaming, as well as adding a hilarious cameo as a tobacco king in the first-rate satire Thank You For Smoking. In 2006 he scored a hit in another western. The made for television Broken Trail, co-starring Thomas Haden Church, garnered strong ratings when it debuted on the American Movie Classics channel. That same year he appeared opposite Drew Barrymore and Eric Bana in Curtis Hanson's Lucky You. Sandra Brennan, Rovi
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