American Oscar-winning actor, director, writer, and producer, called by many as one of the greatest actors. A veteran of more than 33 movies, 60 stage plays and dozens of TV shows, he has had five Oscar nominations and won the Academy Award for “Tender Mercies,” in 1983. He directed, starred, and wrote Oscar-nominated “The Apostle,” in 1998, (believing in it’s success so strongly that he sank $5 million of his own money into the movie.) He is also known for the role of Mafia consigliore in “The Godfather,” 1972 and “The Godfather, Part II.” His work also includes “Apocalypse Now,” 1979 and “Sling Blade,” 1996. On television, he has starred in “Lonesome Dove,” 1989, and “Stalin,” 1992.
Duvall grew up on the East Coast, mainly Annapolis, as his father was in the Navy and retired as a rear admiral. His dad was a descendant of the French Huguenots, and his mom’s ancestors came from East Texas; the family was Christian Scientist. He grew up with two siblings: His brother William teaches music at the University of Wisconsin, and his younger brother, John, is an attorney. As a youngster, Duvall showed talent for mimicry and accents.
He served in the Army but did not go into combat, and later went to Principia college, a small school in Southern Illinois, where he studied drama. Though an indifferent student, he received his Bachelor’s Degree in 1955. He then went to New York where he enrolled at the Neighborhood Playhouse with such classmates as Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and James Caan.
In 1961 Duvall had his first break in New York theatre with a role in “Call Me By My Rightful Name.” Performing in Horton Foote’s production of “The Midnight Caller,” he so impressed the playwright that Foote recommended him for the part of Boo Radley in the film, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” for which Foote wrote the screenplay. Duvall got the part, the first of many in which he would depict a troubled but decent character. In 1965, he won the Obie as Eddie Carbone in a revival of Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge.” In 1977, he was on Broadway in “American Buffalo” where he met his second wife.
Duvall has been married three times: to Barbara Benjamin, 1964-1975; Gail Youngs 1982-1986 and Sharon Brophy, 1991-1996. He does not have biological kids but helped raise two step-daughters.
At 5’10”, 170 lbs, (with deep set eyes, bow legs and a voice that can laugh like a loon or bellow like a bull,) he is described as being conservative, with a temper. His acting style stems from trying to find “the contradictions in character.” He usually avoids rehearsing, prefers to act from the gut while the cameras roll. At the age of 67, Duvall is still when of Hollywood’s most versatile actors. When not on the set, he lives on a ranch in Virginia with his girlfriend, Luciana Pedraza, an equestrian from Argentina.
Link to Wikipedia biography