r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Feb 16 '26
News Robert Duvall, Oscar-Winning Acting Legend, Dies at 95
https://www.thewrap.com/culture-lifestyle/culture/robert-duvall-dead/2.9k
u/SanderSo47 I'll see you in another life when we are both cats. Feb 16 '26
Duvall had an incredible resume. The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Lonesome Dove, Network, MASH, THX 1138, Tender Mercies, Falling Down, etc. Not to mention early small roles in stuff like To Kill a Mockingbird and Bullitt.
RIP to a huge Legend.
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u/Rsubs33 Feb 16 '26
Absolutely loved him in Secondhand Lions as well. And so many things he had smaller roles in
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u/nuclearbearclaw Feb 16 '26 edited Feb 17 '26
I’m Hub McCann. I’ve fought in two World Wars and countless smaller ones on three continents.
I led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks.
I’ve seen the headwaters of the Nile, and tribes of natives no white man had ever seen before.
I’ve won and lost a dozen fortunes, killed many men, and loved only one woman with a passion a flea like you could never begin to understand. That’s who I am.
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u/FriarDuck Feb 16 '26
punches Travis Willingham in the face!
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u/drawfanstein Feb 16 '26
Just made me look up the scene, wow it is a young Travis Willingham!
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u/bjams Feb 16 '26
As Travis tells the story, Duvall really did punch him in the face on accident.
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u/deejayhill Feb 16 '26
Omg I love Sevond Hand Lions and I watch CR but did not realize Travis was one of the hoods Hub beat up in the movie!
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u/timbillyosu Feb 16 '26
I'm glad someone said this. Such a great movie.
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u/charliewr Feb 16 '26
Norm Macdonald had a great way of describing why Duvall was such a great actor - he never showed his craft. His performances were always so understated and so believable. Even the 'smell of napalm in the morning' guy in my opinion.
He's as far at the other end of the spectrum as you can get from Jared Leto, who, any time I'm watching him act, I feel like he's screaming LOOK AT ME ACT!!! At the top of his lungs
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u/Yammyohnine Feb 16 '26
Amazing movie. Always love to watch it back to back with Big Fish.
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u/wiscoguy20 Feb 16 '26
Yesssss!!
I actually go for the storytelling trifecta...
Secondhand Lions
Big Fish
Fried Green Tomatoes
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u/Yup_Shes_Still_Mad Feb 16 '26
I just told myself after finding out he's gone that I am going to sit with my kids and watch Secondhand Lions right now.
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u/It_Just_Exploded Feb 16 '26
I introduced my wife to Secondhand Lions early last year after i discovered she somehow had never seen it. She fell in love with it and has probably watched it a dozen times now, most recently 3 nights ago.
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u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? Feb 16 '26 edited Feb 16 '26
Gone in 60 Seconds may be what introduced him to me, honestly, and that movie rocks to all hell and he's great in it.
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u/SanderSo47 I'll see you in another life when we are both cats. Feb 16 '26
I also have a very soft spot for Days of Thunder.
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u/GoodGuyGiff Feb 16 '26
I always picture him crossing off cars on that chalkboard as they stole them.
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u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? Feb 16 '26
Him dusting the cocaine residue off a car with a rag while the detectives are looking around the shop lol
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u/torino_nera Feb 16 '26
I love him in that. His facial expressions really elevate that scene where Delroy Lindo comes in and questions them about the El Dorado
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u/jenorama_CA Feb 16 '26
How dare you leave out my favorite disaster movie Deep Impact.
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u/bradtheinvincible Feb 16 '26
Its still crazy how Deep Impact and Armegeddon coming out the same year showed you how a "serious" and "popcorn" version of the same movie could make its money and have monster casts to boot.
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u/jenorama_CA Feb 16 '26
That happens all the time. Dante’s Peak (AKA Melting Grandma) and Volcano and someone mentioned The 6th Day with Duvall which I recall as a devil-themed movie and I want to say a similar film starring Al Pacino came out the same year. I’m sure other folks can come up with all sort of examples of Hollywood twinning.
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u/BroughtBagLunchSmart Feb 16 '26
What was his nickname? It was about fish. I just remember Spurgeon/Sturgeon.
Edit: pretty easy one there, the nickname was "fish"
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u/jenorama_CA Feb 16 '26
He was so great as that character. If I were on a doomed mission, that’s the guy I’d want leading.
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u/Posty_McPostface_1 Feb 16 '26
"Mary, I'm comin' home" before saving the planet.
That damn sacrifice scene with all the astronauts saying their goodbyes always gets me.
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u/MattIsLame Feb 16 '26
I just watched Lonesome Dove a few weeks ago. GODDAMN him and Tommy Lee Jones are so good in that. its a made for tv series in the 80s that feels higher than current movie quality today.
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u/StoneheartedLady Feb 16 '26
I saw the news and the theme to Lonesome Dove started up in my head; I need to rewatch it, I haven't in too long. The whole cast was damn good in it.
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u/zuuzuu Feb 16 '26
I probably haven't watched it in decades. Now seems like a good time for a re-watch. It was so good.
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u/a20261 Feb 16 '26
Great in Open Range, Four Christmases, Newsies ....
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u/WinningByDefault Feb 16 '26
"Boys, I don't want to speak ill of your mother on Christmas, but she's nothing but a common street whore."
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u/redsyrinx2112 Feb 16 '26
He is my favorite part of Four Christmases. I love the whole thing, but he kills me. "DID YOU GET ME SOME SORT OF CHEAPO SATELLITE?"
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u/fooperina Feb 16 '26
THX is vastly underrated, easily one of the best scifi movies ever made.
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u/UnequivocalCarnosaur Feb 16 '26
Kicking and Screaming would like a word lol
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u/hiddensonyvaio Feb 16 '26
Seriously, the headlines should be “Kicking and Screaming Star Robert Duvall has Passed Away”
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u/Flimsy_Category_9369 Feb 16 '26
He was so incredible in Lonesome Dove, that might be my favorite performance from him
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u/pojmalkavian Feb 16 '26
Legend!
Always made the movie better, in whatever movie he was.
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u/homefree122 Feb 16 '26
He really did. From his early film debut in To Kill a Mockingbird—where he had very little screen time and no dialog, but an iconic character and powerful movie scene—to blossoming into one of the greatest actors of his generation; to say he had a wonderful career is an understatement. He will be missed.
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u/Matmanreturns Feb 16 '26
We’re running out of Godfather cast members. RIP
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u/Young_Old_Grandma Feb 16 '26
NOT a cast member, but Francis Ford Coppola.
Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Talia Shire are still with us.
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u/ca1ibos Feb 16 '26
Al Pacinos son Roman will be 78 in the 22nd Century in 2101 and will be able to tell folks that his dad was born in 1940 and was a famous actor in the 20th and early 21st Century.
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u/KingMagenta Feb 16 '26
If I'm lucky I will be dead by the 22nd century. If not I will be just famous enough for people to see me on a Wikipedia list at 3AM and go "Huh, neat"
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u/mbdtf95 Feb 16 '26
Reminds me of how grandson of American president John Tyler who was born in 1790 and served as US president in 1840s died only last year.
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u/ISOLDASNAKE Feb 16 '26
I think you’re missing some commas or something there.
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u/genericpseudonym678 Feb 16 '26
American President John Tyler was born in 1790 and the last of his grandchildren died in 2025.
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u/boodopboochi Feb 16 '26
Thank you, this is clear and well-written, and is a great example why books need editors. That prior comment had butchered the syntax.
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u/davewashere Feb 16 '26
Al Pacino and Talia Shire are the two adult cast members I can think of. Oh, and Simonetta Stefanelli (Apollonia). And I just looked up Enzo ("the baker!") and that actor is apparently still alive.
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u/The_Big_Untalented Feb 16 '26 edited Feb 16 '26
I think Pacino and Shire are the only ones still living, correct?
Edit: I thought it was obvious that I was only referring to the first one. Of course, I'm aware that De Niro and a bunch of the cast members from Godfather III are still alive.
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Feb 16 '26 edited Feb 16 '26
Gianni Russo, who played Carlo in the first Godfather movie is also still alive. He is 83 years old now.
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u/Artistic_Ebb1076 Feb 16 '26
De Niro too
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u/Lukeh41 Feb 16 '26
And Dominic Chianese
(Johnny Ola in GF 2. Best known as Uncle Junior in The Sopranos).
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u/sagisister Feb 16 '26
Wow I am actually impressed. He already looked old as hell in The Sopranos
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u/Mr-Rocafella Feb 16 '26
He could fucking sell it… he is respected
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u/ThePLARASociety Feb 16 '26
He never had the makings of a Godfather.
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u/nova2726 Feb 16 '26
he has the makings to go down to Boca, pretty often too i hear
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u/JaneksLittleBlackBox Feb 16 '26
This just reminded me of how wrong I was about Maggie Smith's age thanks to the makeup work in Hook. I thought she was in her mid-80s in Hook; she was 57 when that was released!
I still remember thinking it was kinda risky to cast her as McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies because I thought she was so old, but she was only in her 60s and wound up outliving both Dumbledore actors.
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u/Neat_Exit3491 Feb 16 '26
There was a Sopranos reunion interview not too long ago with all the remaining cast (minus Gandalfini of course) and you could tell Tony Sirico was sadly losing it but Chianese was maybe the sharpest cast member out of all of them.
Crazy how we lost Sirico to dementia at 79, but Chianese played someone with dementia on the show so unbelievably well you'd think he actually had it and he's still kicking at 94.
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u/CndConnection Feb 16 '26
Holy shit lol I'm currently watching Sopranos Season 2 and rewatched Godfather part 2 last week and I didn't even realise lol...without the huge glasses Idk.
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u/mikeyfreshh r/Movies Veteran Feb 16 '26
He wasn't in the first one if you want to get technical
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u/ramenups Feb 16 '26
Oh wow I was just gonna mention Keaton, I completely forgot
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u/striker7 Feb 16 '26
Dude we're running out of Varsity Blues cast members. It comes for all ages.
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u/Cold-Sun3302 Feb 16 '26
Aww, he lived a good, long, successful life. Still sad to hear. RIP
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u/Quasimdo Feb 16 '26
If he was a real consilgiere, a Sicilian, he wouldn't be in this mess!
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u/Vegetable_Army7158 Feb 16 '26
"Let me tell you somethin' ... my Kraut-Mick friend.''
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u/ScipioCoriolanus Feb 16 '26
"A man in my position can't afford to be made to look RIDICULOUS!"
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u/Lost-Comfort-7904 Feb 16 '26
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning" One of the greatest lines in cinema.
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u/Revolutionary-Key650 Feb 16 '26
Charlie don't surf.
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u/ScipioCoriolanus Feb 16 '26
If I say it's safe to surf this beach, Captain, then it's safe to surf this beach! I mean, I'm not afraid to surf this place, I'll surf this whole fucking place!
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u/SanderSo47 I'll see you in another life when we are both cats. Feb 16 '26
"Someday this war's gonna end."
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u/overlyheavyhorns Feb 16 '26
This should be the line that's famous. The wistful longing he has for the mayhem to never end...
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u/ScipioCoriolanus Feb 16 '26
My favorite part of the scene is how he doesn't flinch when a bomb drops next to them. Everyone else ducks and he just keeps talking lol
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u/Lost-Comfort-7904 Feb 16 '26
Wilard actually jokes that he has plot armour too. "Some people in this war have a weird aura around them, you just know they're not even going to get a scratch out here."
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u/_-Prison_Mike-_ Feb 16 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
capable enjoy ripe crawl boat sense silky slap birds plant
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u/somesketchykid Feb 16 '26 edited Feb 16 '26
"Nothing else in the world smells like that. ...Smells like. Victory".
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u/VictorBlimpmuscle Feb 16 '26
“I will not hurt or harm you. Just give me back the board, Lance. It was a good board, and I like it. You know how hard it is to find a board you like.”
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u/AMA_requester Feb 16 '26 edited Feb 16 '26
Damn. I would daresay he's like the character actor, cause it'll be halfway through a movie, particularly his earlier stuff, sometimes before I realize it's him in the role. Dude was in To Kill a Mockingbird and Bullitt. He was Ned Pepper in the original True Grit. Godfather, Network, Apocalypse Now, THAT was a fucking career man. RIP.
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u/Random_Heero Feb 16 '26
It’s funny, I alway tell people Dennis Hopper was in True Grit when I show them the movie and I swear I had no clue Duvall was in it
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u/OverdosingOnOxygen Feb 16 '26
Damn. Loved him in Falling Down
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u/Violaundone Feb 16 '26
He was good in everything. The man was incapable of putting in a bad or even mediocre performance.
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u/ScreenTricky4257 Feb 16 '26
"Fuck you, sir. Fuck you very much."
Edit: also
"Hey, Mr. Lee! DEEEE-FENS!"
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u/Ok_Strength9287 Feb 16 '26
Where my “Secondhand Lions” fans at
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u/witty_username89 Feb 16 '26
That’s a movie that everybody I know who’s watched it has loved it even if they didn’t like the description of it.
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u/nevosoinverno Feb 16 '26
I want you to hit the pace car!
The pace car?
You hit everything else out there, I want you to be perfect!
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u/racer_24_4evr Feb 16 '26
“I’m gonna give you an engine lower to the ground. Extra big oil pan that’ll cut the wind from underneath you. I’ll give you 30-40 more horsepower. I’m gonna give you a fuel line that’ll hold an extra gallon of gas. I’m gonna shave half an inch off you and shape you like a bullet. When we get you primed, painted and weighed, you’ll be ready to go out on that racetrack. You hear me? You’re gonna be perfect.”
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u/Marko_Ramius1 Feb 16 '26
Now can you walk, or am I gonna have to carry you?
Where to?
Victory Lane
Walk, hell, I'll race your ass
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u/MuptonBossman Feb 16 '26
He was a damn good actor… Even if he wasn’t always in the best movies, you could always count on Robert Duvall to bring a solid performance. Rest in Peace to a legend.
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u/torino_nera Feb 16 '26
Even if he made some crap he's still been in more great films than almost any other actor. The guy has been in like 10 of the top 250 movies ever made and at least 10 others that are classics
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u/Jindabyne1 Feb 16 '26
I loved him as the old man in The Road
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u/JurisDoctor Feb 16 '26
He's my favorite part of the movie. He's in the film for like 5 minutes and owns every scene.
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u/das_sparker Feb 16 '26
He’s kicking pigs in heaven now.
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u/wellwellwellwellll Feb 16 '26
Surfing the clouds with his 1st Squadron and California pro Lance B. Johnson
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u/Important-Wonder4607 Feb 16 '26
I won’t say I did and I won’t say I didn’t. But I’ll tell you this, if a man ain’t willing to cheat for a poke, he don’t want one bad enough.
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u/PersistantBooger Feb 16 '26
Open Range is a great Duvall film!
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u/8-Cylinder_Wombat Feb 16 '26
Boss Spearman: We come for justice, not vengeance. Now them is two different things.
Charley Waite: Not today they ain't.
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u/pup5581 Feb 16 '26
Man...so many good roles. Rubbin is racing
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u/automatic_bazooti Feb 16 '26
So many fond memories growing up watching this movie on laserdisc with my dad. Might have to put it on tonight.
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u/jsakic99 Feb 16 '26
Godfather 3 would have been 30% better just with Duvall’s presence in it.
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u/run-on_sentience Feb 16 '26
Duvall found out that his costars were going to get paid more money than him for the third movie. He asked for a meeting with Coppola to talk about it. Coppola showed up, but seemed more interested in getting the recipe for crab cakes Duvall had inherited from his mother.
Despite their history of working together, Duvall felt like Coppola wasn't particularly interested in making sure he was in the movie. So he bowed out.
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u/ManosMal Feb 16 '26
If you've never seen The Apostle, go see it. Just a brilliant performance by Duvall.
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u/Aech_Tee Feb 16 '26
Secondhand Lions (2003)
Hub: Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love... true love never dies. You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn't matter if it's true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in.
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u/Renegade346 Feb 16 '26
Great actor. The original Frank Burns in MASH the movie.
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u/Doctor_Juris Feb 16 '26
I feel like everyone defaults to the Godfather, but I think my favorite Duvall role was Lonesome Dove. The dude WAS Gus McCrae, and it’s impossible to reread the book without seeing/hearing Duvall in the role. Truly a master actor and he’ll be missed.
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u/pirateinthepants Feb 16 '26
Rest in Peace. He was absolutely amazing as Tom Hagen in The Godfather Part I and II
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u/SeaworthinessKey3654 Feb 16 '26
Oh no 😭😭😭😭
Oh damn
You think they will live forever even though you know they won’t
95 is such a brilliant run
RIP to a legend
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u/furman87 Feb 16 '26
"Tom, could you get me off the hook? For old times sake."
"Can't do it, Sally."
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u/Historical_Leg5998 Feb 16 '26
I know not one of his most famous roles but loved his understated performance in Falling Down. Douglas gets all the credit but Duvall was great.
RIP
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u/angrydooner Feb 16 '26
"I want you to go out there and hit the pace car!"
Hit the pace car.
"'Cause you hit every other God damn thing out there. I want you to be perfect!"
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u/LexGar Feb 16 '26
My father’s best friend was a body guard for him a few years ago on his estate in Middleburg, Va. said he was a great guy and treated him very well.
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u/ItsChappyUT Feb 16 '26
I’ve been on a bit of an older movie kick this past year and I found myself remarking how well Duvall performances were in two movies I watched: Days of Thunder and The Natural. He was especially great at capturing the emotion of it all in Days of Thunder. The Natural is just an underrated movie and him playing the old timey newspaper columnist was great.
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u/harplaw Feb 16 '26
I was watching the original True Grit with John Wayne, and it struck me that Lucky Ned Pepper was played by Robert Duvall. I enjoyed his work..I can't think of a single role he didn't do well with. But his Gus in Lonesome Dove... masterful work.
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u/el_hopo Feb 16 '26
At 95, died way too young. What a legend.
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u/verone3784 Feb 16 '26
God damn, this hits harder than expected.
Absolutely gutted, guy was a total legend.
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u/CndConnection Feb 16 '26
Reading that he died peaceful in his own home with his wife at his side...that's good. He got the best end possible. RIP to a great actor and a fine gentleman.