File photo of actor Robert Duvall. | Photo credit: Reuters
Robert Duvall, who played a smooth mafia lawyer in “The Godfather” and stole the show portraying a surfing-crazed colonel in “Apocalypse Now,” died at age 95, his wife said Monday (Feb. 16, 2026).
His death was confirmed on Sunday (February 15, 2026) by his wife, Luciana Duvall.
“Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, dear friend and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home,” she wrote.
Also Read: Godfather actor James Caan passes away at 82
Outspoken, prolific and glitz-averse, Robert Duvall won an Oscar for best actor and was nominated six more times. In his six-decade-long career, he shined in both lead and supporting roles and eventually turned director.
“To the world, he’s an Academy Award-winning actor, director, storyteller. To me, he’s just everything,” Ms. Louisiana Duvall says. “His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love of characters, great meals and holding court.”
Robert Duvall won his Academy Award for playing a washed-up country singer in “Tender Mercy” in 1983.
But his most memorable roles include the mild-mannered, loyal mobster Tom Hagen in the first two parts of “The Godfather” and the maniacal Lt. Col. William Kilgore in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War epic “Apocalypse Now.”
The latter, earning Robert Duvall an Oscar nomination and making him a bona fide star after years of playing lesser roles, now sees him uttering one of cinema’s most famous lines.
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” says his war-loving character – bare-chested, cocky and wearing a big black cowboy hat – as low-flying US warplanes bomb the tree line of the beachfront where he wants to surf.
The character was originally created to be more upscale — his name was originally supposed to be Colonel Carnage — but Robert Duvall toned it down, demonstrating his meticulous approach to acting.
“I did my homework,” Robert Duvall told popular talk show host Larry King in 2015. “I did my research.”
Robert Duvall was a late bloomer in Hollywood – he was already 31 when he gave his breakthrough performance as the mysterious recluse Boo Radley in the 1962 film adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
He played a myriad of roles – a menacing corporate executive in “Network” (1976), a marine officer who treats his family like soldiers in “The Great Shantini” (1979), and then his star turn in “Tender Mercy”.
Robert Duvall has often said his favorite role was played in the 1989 TV mini-series — grizzled, intelligent Texas ranger-turned-cowboy Augustus McCray in “Lonesome Dove,” based on the novel by Larry McMurtry.
Film critic Elaine Mancini once described Robert Duvall as “the most technically skilled, versatile, and most convincing actor in the United States.”
Published – February 17, 2026 12:45 am IST
