Robert Duvall - ©Theda Bara

The name I want to highlight in this post is that of the award-winning American actor Robert Duvall, who passed away the day before yesterday, February 15th, a month after turning 95.

Robert Duvall became famous for his work in two films of the “The Godfather” saga, but it was in “An Officer and a Gentleman” (1983), as “Mac Sledge”, that he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1984; the actor also received two Golden Globe Awards: Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture in 1980 and Best Actor in a Drama Film in 1984; two Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film in 2007; and a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1980.

Robert Duvall has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, in the film category.

Robert Selden Duvall was born on January 5, 1931, in San Diego, California, United States, and, as mentioned at the beginning of this text, passed away on February 15, 2026, in Middleburg, Virginia, United States. He was 95 years old.

The actor was married four times: first to the American visual artist Barbara Brent Benjamin (1936-2019), from 1964 to 1975; second to the American actress and producer Gail Youngs (1952-), from 1982 to 1986; third to the American Sharon Brophy, a dancer and dance teacher whom Duvall met in a tango class in New York City, in 1986. This marriage lasted four years, from 1991 to 1995; and lastly to the Argentine actress Luciana Pedraza (1972-), 41 years younger than him, from 2005 until his death. Despite his four marriages, Duvall had no children, and many biographers claim he was sterile.