Remembering Robert Duvall, Whose Acting Brilliance Colored in the Light and Dark Sides of Humanity

Key Highlights

• He was a sly-dog virtuoso whose roster of indelible characters included a broken-down country singer, a Mafia consigliere, a charismatic Pentecostal preacher, a psychotic Army commander, a corrupt TV news executive and a creepy neighbor who lives in the shadows, not to mention a whole lot of cowboys and also Dwight D.
• Eisenhower and Joseph Stalin.
• Born in California and raised in Maryland, Duvall, as much or more than any actor of his time, had a deep identification with the world of the South.
• In one role after another, he used a drawl and a laidback cadence to portray men from that region — both charmers and killers, each subtly different from the last, chiseling every character with a jeweler’s precision.
• Related Stories Variety Names Jeff Cooper as Group Senior Vice President of Consumer Partnerships Variety Promotes Emily Longeretta to Director of Features Yet when I think of the range that Duvall expressed in his acting, I don’t simply mean his chameleonic quality.