The matchless versatility and dedication of a screen legend

Tributes have poured in for screen legend Robert Duvall after the Academy Award-winning actor and director's death at the age of 95. Bob Thomas of the Associated Press looks back on Duvall’s extraordinary life and career

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Robert Duvall in 2015 and, inset, in The Godfather, top, and Apocalypse Now

(CASEY CURRY)

ROBERT Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication, whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two Godfather movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in Tender Mercies, has died at the age of 95.

Duvall died “peacefully” on Sunday at his home in Middleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his publicist and from a statement posted on his Facebook page by his wife Luciana Duvall.

“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” Luciana wrote.

“His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented.”

The bald, wiry Duvall didn't have leading man looks, but few “character actors” enjoyed such a long, rewarding and unpredictable career, in leading and supporting roles, from an itinerant preacher to Josef Stalin.

Beginning with his 1962 film debut as Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbour in To Kill a Mockingbird, Duvall created a gallery of unforgettable portrayals. They earned him seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor prize for Tender Mercies, which came out in 1983.

He also won four Golden Globes, including one for playing the philosophical cattle-drive boss in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove, a role he often cited as his favourite.

In 2005, Duvall was awarded a National Medal of Arts.

He had been acting for some 20 years when The Godfather, released in 1972, established him as one of the most in-demand performers of Hollywood.