5 hours ago
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‘There was no Duvall persona’
Another one of the greats has passed. What a career. I sincerely believe Duvall was the best actor in a generation of best actors: De Niro, Pacino, Hoffman, Nicholson and more. What made Robert stand above these other figures was how he disappeared into a part. There was no Duvall persona. He was invisible. There were just the characters he played. He could do loud and angry – see his sublime turns in The Great Santini or his seminal Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. Yet I loved his quieter performances more, which would slowly sneak up on you, pull you close and then blow you away with the brilliance of his choices and the risks he took.
Particularly later in his career, when his fellow luminaries were busy cashing cheques playing parodies of their most famous characters, Robert was still pushing the boat out. Check out his turn in The Judge, or the complexity of his performance in The Apostle. Over the next few days, there will be the usual encomiums, which will focus on a handful of roles, and yet there is so much more to Duvall’s legacy that I urge readers to seek these other, less famous performances out. I would also add Frank Hackett in Network, or Scott Briggs in Wild Horses (which he directed), Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies (for which he deservedly won an Oscar), or Earl in A Family Thing. Or at least revisit his most famous role: Tom Hagen in The Godfather. What a performance. Ciao and grazie, Il Consigliere. Johnny Socha, Poland
We didn’t speak, but we shared the dancefloor for a few hours in New York in the early 00s. I was a beginner in the thriving tango scene. One evening at La Nacional, a popular milonga, my partner and I noticed that Robert Duvall and his Argentine partner were in attendance. Here was the legendary Robert Duvall guiding his elegant partner through the crowd, confirming the rumour that he loved tango. Later in the evening, my partner and I ended up just behind them in tango’s counter-clockwise meander around the floor. Suddenly Duvall changed course just as my partner was extending her leg behind her in an embellishment. It took all of my nascent milonguero skills to guide her narrowly past Duvall’s new path. In that near-collision all I could picture was his strutting Kilgore from Apocalypse Now, raining curses on me. I think he would have understood my beginner’s misstep, but to this day I’m thankful not to have collided with him! Eric, 50, Berlin
‘A sheer variety of roles’
I’ve always admired the sheer variety of roles that Robert Duvall was able to cover so well – from Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird, to his western roles, where I believe he excelled. His acting was so superb, it was easy to buy into his character completely, which only makes a film so much better. His kind does not often come our way. Brian Thompson, Portland, Oregon, US
‘He treated us graciously as fellow artists’
An actor’s actor without being a type. He was his roles. The roles were not him. Back in 1977, me and my friend Barry Lane, both of us university theatre students, met backstage with Duvall after his performance in American Buffalo. We spent about an hour with him talking about acting. He was genuinely interested in our theatre studies and treated us graciously as fellow artists. Such an incredible actor and human being. Edward Schneider, 72, Berkeley, California, US
‘Packs a punch no other actor could match’
An aspiring actor friend of mine told me how he was in awe of Duvall’s ability to make an impact on a movie, no matter how small the part. Boo Radley was one example, he said, but another, less appreciated performance he pointed to is in The Conversation. It’s a tiny, uncredited role but the way Duvall delivers a line like: “Just, put it on the table” packs a punch no other actor could match.
When I was in college I worked as a furniture mover in New York City. One day in 1984, soon after Robert Duvall won the Oscar for Tender Mercies, I was working a job on the Upper West Side. It was a lovely spring day and the job was winding up. I was standing on the back of the nearly empty truck looking down the street, and lo and behold I saw Robert Duvall walking towards me. He had a cowboy hat on and was walking with a woman by his side. As he approached the truck, I said quietly in his direction: “Hey, congratulations.” He glanced up, gave a little grin in my direction, said, “Thanks!” and kept walking. David, UK
‘He will be terribly missed in Virginia’
Besides always loving his movies, with lots of favourites including To Kill a Mockingbird, Open Range, Something To Talk About, Secondhand Lions and, of course, Lonesome Dove, I lived in the area of his beloved farm. I would see him occasionally at local restaurants and horse shows, though I never got up the courage to approach him. He was just one of the folks that lived here in God’s country. He will be terribly missed in the area. Sandy Cole, Fauquier County, Virginia, US
