Robert Selden Duvall (born
January 5,
1931) is an
Academy Award-, two-time
Emmy Award-, and four-time
Golden Globe Award-winning
American film actor and
director. He is best known for his roles in
To Kill a Mockingbird,
The Godfather,
The Godfather Part II,
Apocalypse Now,
Network,
THX 1138,
MASH,
The Great Santini,
Tender Mercies,
Lonesome Dove, and
The Apostle.
Biography
Early life
Duvall was born in
San Diego,
California, the son of Mildred Virginia (
née Hart), an amateur actress and relative of
American Civil War General
Robert E. Lee, and William Howard Duvall, a
Virginia-born
U.S. Navy admiral.
Duvall's father was a
Methodist and his mother was a Christian Scientist, and Duvall was raised in the
Christian Science religion.
[The Religious Affiliation of Robert Duvall. Adherents.com.] Duvall grew up in a military family, living for a time in
Annapolis,
Maryland near the
United States Naval Academy. He attended
Severn School in
Severna Park,
Maryland and
The Principia in
St. Louis, Missouri and graduated, in 1953,
Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. He served in the
United States Army (
service number 52 346 646) from
19 August 1953 to
20 August 1954, leaving as
Private First Class. While stationed at
Camp Gordon in
Georgia, Duvall acted in an amateur production of the comedy "
Room Service" in nearby
Augusta.
