Robert Duvall

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Robert Duvall
Duvall at the Tribeca Film Festival, May 2007
Born	Robert Selden Duvall January 5, 1931 (1931-01-05) (age 77) San Diego, California, USA
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1959-present
Spouse(s)	Barbara Benjamin (1964-1975) Gail Youngs (1982-1986) Sharon Brophy (1991-1996) Luciana Pedraza (2004-present)
Awards won Academy Awards Best Actor 1983 Tender Mercies BAFTA Awards Best Supporting Actor 1980 Apocalypse Now Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie 2007 Broken Trail Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture 1980 Apocalypse Now Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama 1984 Tender Mercies Best Actor - Miniseries or TV Movie 1990 Lonesome Dove 1993 Stalin Screen Actors Guild Awards Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture 1998 A Civil Action

Robert Selden Duvall (born January 5, 1931) is an American film actor and director who has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. He has appeared in films such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, The Natural, Network, THX 1138, MASH, The Great Santini, Tender Mercies, Lonesome Dove, Colors, and The Apostle.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Duvall was born in San Diego, California, the son of Mildred Virginia (née Hart), an amateur actress and relative of American Civil War General Robert E. Lee, and William Howard Duvall, a Virginia-born U.S. Navy admiral.^[1][2] Duvall's father was a Methodist and his mother was a Christian Scientist, and Duvall was raised in the Christian Science religion.^[3] Duvall grew up in a military family, living for a time in Annapolis, Maryland near the United States Naval Academy. He attended Severn School in Severna Park, Maryland and The Principia in St. Louis, Missouri and graduated, in 1953, Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. He served in the United States Army (service number 52 346 646) from 19 August 1953 to 20 August 1954, leaving as Private First Class. While stationed at Fort Gordon in Georgia, Duvall acted in an amateur production of the comedy "Room Service" in nearby Augusta.

After leaving the Army, Duvall studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York under Sanford Meisner. While working to become an actor, he worked as a Manhattan post office clerk. Duvall is friends with actors Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman whom he knew during their years as struggling actors.^[4] At one point, Duvall roomed with Hoffman while they were looking for work.

[edit] Career

Duvall's screen debut was as Boo Radley in the critically acclaimed To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Duvall later played the notorious malefactor Ned Pepper in True Grit (1969), but his breakout role was that of Tom Hagen in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in A Civil Action and for his role as Lt. Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979). He also received a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in The Great Santini as Lt. Col. "Bull" Meechum who was loosely based on world famous Marine Aviator, Colonel Donald Conroy. He won Oscar's Best Actor in Tender Mercies (1983). His line "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" from Apocalypse Now is now regarded as iconic in cinema history. The full text is as follows:

You smell that? Do you smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory.
(Pause)
Some day this war is going to end...

President George W. Bush stands with recipients of the 2005 National Medal of Arts on November 9, 2005, in the Oval Office. Among those recognized for their outstanding contributions to the arts were, from left: Leonard Garment, Louis Auchincloss, Paquito D'Rivera, James De Preist, Tina Ramirez, Robert Duvall, and Ollie Johnston.

He directed the critically acclaimed The Apostle, about a preacher on the run from the law, and Assassination Tango (2002), a thriller about one of his favorite hobbies, tango. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 18, 2003.^{[citation needed]}

Duvall portrayed General Robert E. Lee in Gods and Generals in 2003 and is actually a relative of the Confederate general. He has stated in several forums, including CBS Sunday Morning, that his favorite role was that of Augustus "Gus" McCrae in Lonesome Dove.

In 2005, he was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President George W. Bush at the White House.^[5]

[edit] Personal life

Duvall is close friends with Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman, both of whom he has known since their struggling actor days. He has been married four times, the first to Barbara Benjamin, from 1964 until 1975. He then married Gail Youngs (1982–1986) and Sharon Brophy (1991–1996).

In 2005, Duvall married Luciana Pedraza, granddaughter of famous Argentine aviator Susana Ferrari Billinghurst. He met Pedraza on a street in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They were both born on January 5, but Duvall is 41 years older. They have been together since 1997. Duvall and Luciana have been active supporters of Pro Mujer, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Latin America's poorest women help themselves through micro-credit, business training and health care linkages.

Duvall speaks fluent Spanish and maintains a farm in The Plains in Fauquier County, Virginia. He has the same birthday as Godfather co-star Diane Keaton who was born in 1946. His favorite city is Buenos Aires. He is an avid Tango dancer and soccer fan.^{[citation needed]} Duvall faxed a message of support to Dumfries club Queen of the South ahead of the team playing in the 2008 Scottish Cup Final.^[6] Duvall became acquainted with the club in filming scenes in 1999 for 'A Shot at Glory'.

Duvall's political views are variously described as libertarian or conservative.^[4] He was personally invited to Republican President George W. Bush's inauguration in 2001. In September 2007, he announced his support for Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.^[7] Duvall worked the floor at the GOP's 2008 national convention^[8] and, according to a 29 August 2008 MSNBC article, Duvall narrated most of the videos for the convention. In September 2008, he appeared on stage at a John McCain-Sarah Palin rally in New Mexico, and he told an October 2008 GOP fundraiser that "As far as I'm concerned, we've got to keep this guy [Barack Obama] out of the White House." Duvall is related to Barack Obama through a common ancestor, Mareen Duvall who immigrated to what is now Maryland from France. Duvall is also related to former President Harry Truman and Current Vice-President Dick Cheney, all through the same common ancestor.^[9]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Robert Duvall

• Robert Duvall at the Internet Movie Database
• Political contributions of Robert Duvall
• 'Napalm' speech tops movie poll The BBC
• Artículo Star Pulse 19/6/2006- "Hollywood legend Robert Duvall discovers he married into a family of great Argentinean aviators".