“There are two greats in America right now. The first is Brando, whose best work is behind him, and the other is Robert Duvall.”
Legendary acting guru Sanford Meisner said those words in the 1960s. He trained Robert Duvall at the Nieghborhood Playhouse in the late 1950s and early 1960s before the actor’s screen debut in “To Kill a Mockingbird” as the children’s boogey man and savior Boo Radley. In the years since, Duvall has given some of the greatest performances captured on film, yet stands in his seventies now with just a single Oscar to his credit, a Best Actor trophy for his country and western singer in 1980’s “Tender Mercies.”
There are many, myself included, who consider Duvall the most purely gifted actor in American cinema. He’s always lacked the leading looks to harness the roles often awarded to other players. Instead he has toiled quietly yet effectively as a character actor, often playing second fiddle to bigger stars and stealing the film more often than not.