Robert Duvall Biography

A leading man and character actor since the 1960s, Robert Duvall has specialized in taciturn cowboys, fierce leaders and driven characters of all types.

One of his most memorable roles was as a surfing colonel in Apocalypse Now (“Charlie don’t surf!”).

Duvall made his screen debut in 1962 as the creepy Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird and played a bad hombre opposite John Wayne in True Grit (1969).

In the 1970s he worked often with Francis Ford Coppola, appearing in The Godfather (1972, with Marlon Brando), The Conversation (1974) and as the fanatical Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979).

Duvall earned Oscar nominations for supporting roles in The Godfather (1972), Apocalypse Now (1979), A Civil Action (1998) and The Judge (2015). As lead actor, he was nominated for The Great Santini (1979) and The Apostle (1997), and won the Best Actor Oscar for 1983’s Tender Mercies.

On television he was Emmy-nominated for the hit 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove in a memorable pairing with Tommy Lee Jones.

Duvall has also directed films, including The Apostle and the 1975 rodeo documentary We’re Not the Jet Set.