Robert Duvall

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Image:Robert Duvall.jpg Robert Selden Duvall (born January 5, 1931) is an Academy Award-winning American film actor and director.

1 Personal life
2 Film career
3 Private life
4 Partial filmography
5 External links

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Personal life

Duvall was born in San Diego, California. His father, William Howard Duvall, was a former US Navy admiral with French Huguenot roots; his mother was an amateur actress and a descendant of American Civil War General Robert E. Lee. His father was a Methodist and his mother was a Christian Scientist; he was raised in the Christian Science religion, which he still follows today [1].

Duvall grew up in a military family, living for a time in Annapolis, Maryland near the United States Naval Academy. He served in the United States Army (service number 52 346 646) from 19 August 1953 to 20 August 1954, achieving the rank of Private First Class and awarded the National Defense Service Medal.

Duvall studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York under Sanford Meisner. While struggling as an actor, he worked at a Manhattan post office as a clerk but quit after six months. Duvall said he didn't want to be working at the same place twenty years from now.

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Film career

Image:Robertduval2.jpg

His screen debut was as Boo Radley in the critically acclaimed To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) but his breakout role was a decade later as Tom Hagen in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in A Civil Action and for his role as Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for The Great Santini (1980) and The Apostle (1997) and won for his role in Tender Mercies (1983).

He directed the critically acclaimed The Apostle, about a preacher on the run from the law, and Assassination Tango (2002), a thriller about one of his favorite hobbies, tango. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2005. He received star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 18, 2003.

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Private life

He is close friends with Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman, both of whom he's known since their struggling actor days.

Duvall has been married three times:

Barbara Benjamin (1964 - 1975)
Gail Youngs (1982 - 1986)
Sharon Brophy (1991 - 1996)

He now lives with his partner Luciana Pedraza.

Duvall speaks fluent Spanish and maintains a home in Virginia. He has the same birthday as Godfather co-star Diane Keaton. His favorite city is Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is an avid Tango dancer.

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