Robert Duvall Seared Himself Into Our Memories Even When He Wasn’t the Star

The opening of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather hides a pale man whose hawklike stillness quietly reshapes the scene. He emerges from shadow to sit at Don Corleone’s side, largely silent yet radiating intimacy and authority. That pale man, Tom Hagen, was Robert Duvall, who died on Sunday at 95.

Duvall moved between leads and supporting parts, sometimes anchoring a picture and at other times serving a director’s ensemble. He was part of Coppola’s close group of collaborators from The Rain People onward; in that film he plays Gordon, a patrolman whose officiousness gives way to a dangerous edge and whose volatile presence lingers even in brief scenes.

He made an unforgettable screen debut as Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird, filling the small but pivotal role with a haunting mix of wariness, crushing isolation and childish incomprehension. That ability to disappear into character — tamped down yet searing — helped define a career that often felt more like a supporting actor’s than a conventional star’s.

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