Robert Duvall once apologized to Canada. Never shy about saying what’s on his mind, Duvall announced in 2003 that he would no longer work in Canada because there just wasn’t enough talent. Four years later, while speaking to Canadian journalists in Cannes, he recanted: “I just want to say to you guys that I eat my words when I said there are no good actors in Canada. After I worked there, I retracted what I said because we found wonderful actors.” He also went on to praise the country’s young stars at the time, Hayden Christensen and Ryan Gosling. Of course, forgiveness came swiftly – we’re not about to hold a grudge against the actor who gave us The Godfather’s consigliere lawyer Tom Hagen and Apocalypse Now’s Lt. Col. Bill “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” Kilgore.
Duvall died on Feb. 15 at 95 at home in Virginia. Thanks to his numerous iconic roles, the Navy brat and Army veteran became a titan of the New Hollywood Era – the 1970s American cinematic revolution led by filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola (who directed Duvall in the films above). Watching the actor opposite other greats of that generation – including Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Dennis Hopper, Robert Redford and Canada’s Donald Sutherland – Duvall consistently brought grit and authenticity, fierce authority and an underlying conscience to complex roles. And all of that was bubbling just under the surface in his onscreen debut as the ominous and near-silent Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird.
In the 1960s, when Duvall was a struggling actor, rooming with Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman, he landed small parts in Bullitt with Steve McQueen and True Grit with John Wayne, and his journeyman career would garner seven Oscar acting nominations and one win for 1983’s Tender Mercies, in which he did his own singing as fictional country star Mac Sledge. Throughout that decade, he’d often play the older and wiser alpha male to young hotshots, like in the police drama Colors with Sean Penn and Tom Cruise’s car-racing movie Days of Thunder. But it was his turn as a cowboy in a 1989 TV miniseries that was his all-time favourite role: “When I finished Lonesome Dove, I said to myself, Now I can retire. I’ve done something. Let the English play Hamlet. I’ll play Augustus McCrae.”
In the 1990s, Duvall had a late career artistic resurgence when he wrote, directed and starred in the critically acclaimed independent film, The Apostle (coaxing a career high performance from co-star Farrah Fawcett) and subsequently received a note from his own hero and reclusive 1970s co-star Marlon Brando, who praised the “moving” film. As recently as 2022, at age 91, Duvall was still showing up onscreen, including as a mentor to Adam Sandler’s basketball scout character, in the Netflix film Hustle. But after 80-plus movies over seven decades, he knew he’d be remembered most for that famous line from the battlefields of Apocalypse Now: “People come up to me and say it like we’re the only two people in the world who know.”
Robert Duvall’s 5 Most Memorable Film Roles (and 1 From TV)
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Godfather and The Godfather Part II
Apocalypse Now
Tender Mercies
Lonesome Dove
The Apostle
Tributes Pour In…
Duvall’s Godfather co-stars Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were among the first to pay tribute to the late actor.
“It was an honour to have worked with Robert Duvall,” Pacino said. “He was a born actor as they say, his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered. I will miss him.”
“God bless Bobby,” De Niro added. “I hope I can live till I’m 95. May he rest in peace.”
Tributes continue to pour in on social media, a selection of which can be found below.
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Funny as hell. Strong as hell. One of the greatest actors we ever had. Such a great man to talk to and laugh with. Loved him so much. We all did. So many movies to choose from that were legendary. Watch them when you can. Sending his wife Luciana and all his family and friends… pic.twitter.com/mW5yDWi1wZ
— Adam Sandler (@AdamSandler) February 16, 2026
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning!”
RIP Robert Duvall— Stephen King (@StephenKing) February 16, 2026
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Remembering Robert Duvall ❤️ pic.twitter.com/n6AIlWF36m
— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) February 17, 2026
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