← Back to explore

Robert Duvall

Acting

Born January 5, 1931 · San Diego, California, USA

Died February 15, 2026

Also known as Robert Selden Duvall · Robert Duval

Biography

Robert Selden Duvall (January 5, 1931 – February 15, 2026) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Duvall began appearing in theater in the late 1950s, moving into television and film roles during the early 1960s, playing Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and appearing in Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), as Major Frank Burns in the blockbuster comedy M*A*S*H (1970) and the lead role in THX 1138 (1971), as well as Horton Foote's adaptation of William Faulkner's Tomorrow (1972), which was developed at The Actors Studio and is his personal favorite. This was followed by a series of critically lauded performances in commercially successful films. He has starred in numerous films and television series, including The Twilight Zone (1963), Bullitt (1968), True Grit (1969), The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), The Conversation (1974), Network (1976), Apocalypse Now (1979), Tender Mercies (1983) (which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor), The Natural (1984), The Handmaid's Tale (1990), Days of Thunder (1990), Falling Down (1993), Secondhand Lions (2003), The Judge (2014), and Widows (2018). His final role was in The Pale Blue Eye (2022).

Awards & recognition

  • Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie · 2007
  • Donostia Award · 2003
  • Academy AwardBest Actor · 1984
  • Academy Awards · 1984
  • BAFTA AwardBest Actor in a Supporting Role · 1980
Show all 16 awards →
  • Golden Globe Awards · 1980
  • National Defense Service Medal
  • National Medal of Arts
  • star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actor · 2015 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actor · 1999 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Actor · 1998 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Actor · 1984 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Actor · 1981 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actor · 1980 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actor · 1973 · nominated

Filmography50+ titles

The Godfather

1972as Tom Hagen

The Godfather Part II

1974as Tom Hagen

The Twilight Zone

1959as Charley Parkes

Apocalypse Now

1979as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore

To Kill a Mockingbird

1962as Boo Radley

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

1991as Self

Lonesome Dove

1989as Augustus "Gus" McCrae

Network

1976as Frank Hackett

The Outer Limits

1963as Adam Ballard

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

1955as Bart Collins

Combat!

as Peter Halsman

Hustle

2022as Rex Merrick

The Time Tunnel

1966as Raul Nimon

The Wild Wild West

1965as Dr. Horace Humphries

The Conversation

1974as The Director (uncredited)

Falling Down

1993as Prendergast

The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash

2019as Self

The Judge

2014as Joseph Palmer

True Grit

1969as Ned Pepper

The Fugitive

1963as Eric Christian

12 Mighty Orphans

2021as Mason Hawk

The Graham Norton Show

2007as Self

Thank You for Smoking

2005as The Captain

Secondhand Lions

2003as Hub

Open Range

2003as Boss Spearman

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

1978as Priest on Swing (uncredited)

John Q

2002as Lt. Frank Grimes

Bullitt

1968as Cabbie Weissberg

The Chase

1966as Edwin Stewart

The Road

2009as Old Man - Eli

CBS News Sunday Morning

1979as Self

Casting By

2012as Self

Crazy Heart

2009as Wayne

The Natural

1984as Max Mercy

Saturday Night Live

1975as Self - Various Characters

M*A*S*H

1970as Maj. Frank Burns

Broken Trail

as Prentice Ritter

The Pale Blue Eye

2022as Jean-Pepe

Tender Mercies

1983as Mac Sledge

The Great Santini

1979as Bull Meechum

The Outfit

1973as Earl Macklin

Stoney Burke

as Joby Pierce

Jack Reacher

2012as Martin Cash

Get Low

2009as Felix Bush

We Own the Night

2007as Burt Grusinsky

Newsies

1992as Joseph Pulitzer

Tomorrow

1972as Jackson Fentry

Captain Newman, M.D.

1963as Capt. Paul Cabot Winston

Route 66

1960as Lee Winters

The Paper

1994as Bernie White