Robert Duvall, the acclaimed actor and filmmaker whose career spanned seven decades, has died at the age of 95.
Duvall passed away on February 15, 2026, at his home in Upperville, Virginia.
Born Robert Selden Duvall on January 5, 1931, in San Diego, California, he began his acting journey on stage before transitioning to film and television in the early 1960s. Duvall’s breakthrough came with his first notable screen role as Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird, and he quickly established himself as a versatile performer.
Over the years Duvall delivered a remarkable array of performances in some of cinema’s most enduring films. He is perhaps best known for his work in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), portraying family consigliere Tom Hagen with a quiet strength that became one of his signature roles. In Apocalypse Now (1979), he gave a chilling, unforgettable turn as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, delivering the iconic line about loving “the smell of napalm in the morning.”
Duvall won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Tender Mercies (1983), in which he portrayed a country singer seeking redemption. He also earned nominations for roles in films such as The Great Santini and The Judge, and received multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Awards.
Beyond acting, Duvall also directed and wrote projects, including the 1997 film The Apostle, which he starred in and directed, demonstrating his deep engagement with storytelling and independent filmmaking.
Duvall continued to work into his later years, with his last released film was The Pale Blue Eye (2022), a gothic mystery in which he starred alongside Christian Bale as an aged detective investigating murders at West Point in the 1830s. The film was released theatrically in December 2022 and later streamed on Netflix.
Throughout his long career, Duvall appeared in classics including The Natural, Days of Thunder, Sling Blade, Secondhand Lions, Hustle and many others, proving his range from dramatic heavyweight roles to nuanced supporting performances.
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