Duvall, Robert

▪ 1999

      American actor Robert Duvall had known he "wanted to play a preacher" for nearly 30 years, ever since the day he observed two evangelists sermonizing in the small town of Hughes, Ark. His fascination with the styles and cadences of Pentecostal preachers led him to visit many churches across the U.S., and he eventually used the notes he took on those visits to write a screenplay, The Apostle, about a volatile Southern minister. Hollywood studios uniformly balked when approached with the project, however, in part because the film failed to indict the religious views of the title character. Deciding to finance The Apostle himself, Duvall proceeded to both direct and star in the film, which not only became a box-office success in early 1998 but won accolades from critics and earned Duvall his third Academy Award nomination for best actor.

      Born on Jan. 5, 1931, in San Diego, Calif., where his father, a career navy officer, was stationed at the time, Duvall grew up in Fairfax county, Va. Although his mother was a talented amateur actress, Duvall gave little thought to a career in acting until he began taking theatre classes at Principia College, Elsah, Ill. Upon graduation he entered the army and served two years (1951-53) in the Korean War before moving to New York City to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse. To support himself, he worked at various jobs and shared an apartment with other aspiring actors, among them Dustin Hoffman. Duvall first attracted attention with his portrayal of a longshoreman in a one-night studio production of A View from the Bridge (1957) and made a memorable film debut in the role of Boo Radley, the enigmatic neighbour of lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), in the 1962 classic To Kill a Mockingbird.

      In the more than 60 movie appearances that followed, Duvall demonstrated a remarkable versatility. Among his roles were the outlaw Ned Pepper, John Wayne's nemesis, in True Grit (1969), the prudish Maj. Frank Burns in M*A*S*H (1970), the consigliere Tom Hagen in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), and the maniacal Lieut. Col. Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979). He received Academy Award nominations for best supporting actor for his work in The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, and he earned his first Oscar nomination for best actor for his portrayal of a troubled U.S. Marine Corps pilot in The Great Santini (1979). He won the best actor Oscar for his riveting performance as a washed-up country singer in Tender Mercies (1983). Duvall also appeared on television, most notably in the miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989).

      Between 1993 and 1997 he acted in 13 feature films, and, with prominent roles in Deep Impact and A Civil Action, two 1998 blockbuster motion pictures, the "Apostle" seemed poised to convert a new generation of fans.

SHERMAN HOLLAR

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▪ American actor

born January 5, 1931, San Diego, Calif., U.S.

      American actor noted for his ability to quietly inhabit any character, particularly average working people, whom he brings fully but subtly to life. In the words of critic Elaine Mancini, Duvall is “the most technically proficient, the most versatile, and the most convincing actor on the screen in the United States.”

      Born to a U.S. Navy admiral, Duvall graduated from Illinois's Principia College in 1953 and served two years in the army during the Korean War. In the years that followed, he studied drama under the noted acting teacher Sanford Meisner at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse and appeared in Off-Broadway and Broadway plays.

      A brief but memorable film debut came in 1962 when Duvall played the simpleminded Arthur (“Boo”) Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird. For the next several years, he continued to appear in small film and television roles. This path led to major supporting parts in films with large ensemble casts, such as the repressed and self-righteous Major Frank Burns in M*A*S*H (1970) and the business-minded Mafia attorney Tom Hagen in The Godfather (1972) and its sequel, The Godfather, Part II (1974). The original 1972 role earned Duvall his first Oscar nomination.

 In the late 1970s Duvall received two additional Oscar nominations for affecting portrayals of military men. His Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979) maniacally declares that he loves “the smell of napalm in the morning,” but Duvall convinces the audience of Kilgore's compassion for his own soldiers. Bull Meechum, the career marine of The Great Santini (1980), is a warrior without a war who during peacetime inflicts an often severe discipline on his family.

      Duvall wrote many of his own songs for his beautifully nuanced performance as a faded country music star running a motel and filling station in Tender Mercies (1983); for this role he won the Oscar for best actor. He ended the 1980s with his highly praised performance in the Emmy Award-winning TV miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989).

      In the 1990s, Duvall's credits include successful Hollywood pictures such as Days of Thunder (1990), Phenomenon (1996), and A Family Thing (1996). He wrote, directed, and starred in The Apostle (1997), a pet project he spent years developing and that earned him his third Oscar nomination for best actor. Duvall's performance in A Civil Action (1998) was honoured with his third Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.

      Duvall continued his prolific acting career, appearing as Robert E. Lee (Lee, Robert E.) in the Civil War saga Gods and Generals (2003) and as a wealthy, eccentric old man who takes custody of his young nephew in Secondhand Lions (2003). Duvall won an Emmy for his role as a rancher who rescues five young Chinese girls sold into prostitution in the Old West in the television miniseries Broken Trail (2006). His later films include Lucky You (2007) and We Own the Night (2007).

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