Per The Guardian, “Robert Duvall, the veteran actor who had a string of roles in classic American films including Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, M*A*S*H and To Kill a Mockingbird, has died aged 95.
‘Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort,’ wrote his wife, Luciana Duvall, in a message on Facebook.
‘To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything. His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented. In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable to us all.’
Duvall was perhaps best known for his role as the cavalry-hatted Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, released in 1979, which yielded two of the most frequently quoted lines of dialogue in cinema history – ‘Charlie don’t surf!’ and ‘I love the smell of napalm in the morning’. But he also made an immense impact as the consigliere Tom Hagen in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, the reclusive Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird at the start of his career, and many supporting and character roles throughout the ensuing decades. He was nominated seven times for an Oscar, winning once, for best actor in 1984 for Tender Mercies as a country-music singer trying to overcome alcoholism.”
I remember all of these movies and more. “A Civil Action” with John Travolta was an excellent movie on a company who knowingly poisoned the water supply, but bankrupted the attorney pursuing them. “Secondhand Lions” with Michael Caine was about tall-telling retirees who make you smile with their pearls of wisdom. I had forgotten he was in the movie “Mash” playing Frank Burns opposite Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould. And, I had forgotten he was the bad guy Ned Pepper in “True Grit,” opposite John Wayne, Kim Darby and Glen Campbell.
But, as Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” he saved the lives of Scout and Jem from the man who wanted to punish their father for trying to save a Black man from conviction for a crime the assailant committed. Duvall played the learning disabled Boo to perfection.
Let me close with a favorite scene as the family attorney in “The Godfather,” as he quickly eats his dinner before the film director (who is black balling Vito Corleone’s God son) erupts in anger at his request. My thinking is he knows he won’t get to eat before his flight back as well as anticipating the director’s eruption. Fans of the movie know what happens after he leaves.
musingsofanoldfart 