Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now and Godfather star, dies aged 95

Robert Duvall, the veteran actor who had roles in Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, M*A*S*H and To Kill a Mockingbird, has died aged 95. His wife, Luciana Duvall, wrote on Facebook: “Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort.” She added: “To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller.

To me, he was simply everything.” Duvall was perhaps best known as the cavalry-hatted Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979), which yielded the lines “Charlie don’t surf!” and “I love the smell of napalm in the morning”. He also made an impact as the consigliere Tom Hagen in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, and as the reclusive Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird.

He was nominated seven times for an Oscar, winning once for best actor in 1984 for Tender Mercies. Born in San Diego in 1931, the son of a naval officer, he studied drama in St Louis, briefly joined the army, and in 1955 enrolled at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York alongside James Caan, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman.

United States, San Diego

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