Hollywood mourns the passing of Robert Duvall, one of the greatest-ever actors, who died on Sunday. He was 95 at the time of death. Francis Ford Coppola and Al Pacino, the director and the co-star of one of Duvall's most popular films, The Godfather, paid their tributes to him. Coppola took to social media and wrote, "What a blow to learn of the loss of Robert Duvall. Such a great actor and such an essential part of American Zoetrope from its beginning: The Rain People, The Conversation, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, THX 1138, Assassination Tango."
The actor's performances in Coppola's The Godfather and Apocalypse Now earned him Oscar nominations. In The Godfather films, especially, he brought a sense of level-headedness and calmness to the otherwise hot-headed Corleone family. His character Tom Hagen's combination scenes with Al Pacino's Michael Corleone are legendary, especially one where he questions Corleone's distrust for him.
In his tribute, Pacino shared, "It was an honor to have worked with Robert Duvall. He was a born actor as they say, his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered. I will miss him."
While both Pacino and Duvall earned Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominations for their performances in the first part of the iconic trilogy, they lost the award Cabaret star Joel Grey.
On the other hand, Robert De Niro, who appears in the flash-back portions of The Godfather Part II as a young Vito Corleone, wrote, "God bless Bobby. I hope I can live till I’m 95. May he rest in peace."
Duvall made his debut with To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), co-starring Gregory Peck and Mary Badham, among others. While his role in the film is very brief and devoid of any dialogues, the actor left a big impression with his subtle expressions. Badham said that she did not know her co-star of To Kill A Mockingbird all that well and that its director Robert Mulligan kept them from meeting each other up to the point their characters appear in the film's climax. "It was really easy to believe him as Boo — as a child, I was able to just kind of live in my imagination — and he was perfect for the role," Badham said about her co-star.
Interestingly, even when she bumped into Duvall on the final day of production on the 1962 film, she did not recognise him. "He was a very good actor, and I admired his work," she added.
On the other hand, Adam Sandler shared a heartfelt social media post to pay his tribute to the late Duvall. "Funny as hell. Strong as hell. One of the greatest actors we ever had. Such a great man to talk to and laugh with. Loved him so much. We all did. So many movies to choose from that were legendary. Watch them when you can. Sending his wife Luciana and all his family and friends our condolences," Sandler wrote about his Hustle (2022) co-star.
Meanwhile, Viola Davis, reminisced about collaborating with Duvall on 2018's Widows, directed by Steve McQueen. Taking to social media, she wrote, "I had the honor of working alongside you in Widows. I was in awe. I've always been in awe of your towering portrayals of men who were both quiet and dominating in their humanness. You were a giant… an icon…"