Camilla Jessen
‘Apocalypse Now’ and ‘The Godfather’ legend dies at 95.
The Oscar-winning actor, known for classics such as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, has passed away after a career that included seven Academy Award nominations.
One of American cinema’s great character actors is no longer with us. Robert Duvall has died at the age of 95. The news was shared by his wife, Luciana Pedraza, in a post on Facebook.
“Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort,” she wrote, calling him “one of the greatest actors of our time.”
Robert Duvall left a lasting mark on American film over more than six decades. For many, he will forever be Tom Hagen in The Godfather from 1972 — the role that earned him his first Oscar nomination.
He also appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 war epic Apocalypse Now, where his line, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” became iconic.
In 1983, Duvall won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Tender Mercies. Over the course of his career, he received a total of seven Oscar nominations — a testament to an actor of both range and depth.
Beyond major Hollywood productions, Duvall was known for seeking out complex and nuanced characters. He worked with directors such as Coppola and was part of the generation of actors who helped redefine American cinema in the 1970s.
According to his wife, he was more than an award-winning actor. “To the world he was an Oscar-winning actor, director, and storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” she wrote.
Robert Duvall died Sunday at his home in Middleburg, Virginia.
Sources: Newsner, Filmz
