By Lillie Liska
Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall, iconic for his role in THE GODFATHER, among others, has died. He was 95.
“Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time,” his wife, Luciana, shared in a statement via his Facebook page on Feb. 16. “Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort.”
“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” she wrote. “His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court.”
“For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented. In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable to us all,” Luciana continued. “Thank you for the years of support you showed Bob and for giving us this time and privacy to celebrate the memories he leaves behind.”
Related: How THE APOSTLE Changed Robert Duvall’s Perspective on Faith
Robert Duvall has sadly passed away at the age of 95. pic.twitter.com/8iH8D4DxMB
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) February 16, 2026
Born in 1931, Duvall was raised in Annapolis, Maryland, and San Diego, California, as his father was in the Navy.
According to CNN, he attended Principia College in Illinois followed by a stint in the Army during the Korean War. After that, he moved to New York to study drama.
His film career began in 1962 when he portrayed the reclusive neighbor Boo Radley in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.
THE GODFATHER’s release in 1972, in which he portrayed the Corleone family’s consigliere, established Duvall as a Hollywood mainstay, and over the course of his career, he secured seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor Oscar for TENDER MERCIES. He also won four Golden Globes.
He wrote, directed and co-starred in 1997’s THE APOSTLE, for which he won Movieguide®’s Grace Prize Award®.
“After his happy life spins out of control, a preacher from Texas changes his name, goes to Louisiana and starts preaching on the radio,” a synopsis of the movie reads.
He told Guideposts that the movie “filled my soul. One Sunday in New York, I visited six churches, ending up at Harlem’s vast Abyssinian Baptist Church. There in a packed congregation before a huge choir, when we all began to sing ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus,’ I found myself connected to the Lord in a way I had never felt before, deep within me.”
“Yes, I thought, we’re all kin through Jesus. Not just what we read about him in the Bible, but who he is. That was the secret to powerful faith, the power I wanted to convey in my movie.”
Movieguide® said THE APOSTLE “shakes and shouts the glory of God,” adding that Duvall “spares very little in portraying the passions and earnestness of God-loving people.”
“I tried to do the best I could, with my own knowledge of the Bible. I had hoped, and I think it has been in evidence thus far, that the film would reach the secular and the religious community…and it has been a strange type of crossover film, and for that I am very grateful,” Duvall said at the Movieguide® Awards.
Please keep Duvall’s family and friends in your prayers as they mourn his death.
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +4Share:
– Content: +1