Duvall, who won an Oscar for Tender Mercies, has had a long and distinguished career including Academy Award nominations for The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, A Civil Action and The Apostle.

Andy Garcia and Billy Bob Thornton also lent their support to their friend and mentor, who they consider to be more than actor.

Duvall was nominated last month for a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role as a backwoods hermit in "Get Low."


Robert Duvall Trivia per IMDB:

• Lived with Luciana Pedraza for seven years before marrying her in 2004. She is 41 years younger than him.
• Was roommates and good friends with Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman while all were struggling stage actors in New York before any of them struck it big.
• Being descended from Robert E. Lee, he can actually trace his family back to President George Washington.
• Has been had a role in more American Film Institute Top 100 films (six), than any other actor. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974), MASH (1970) and Network (1976).
• on the reason he didn't appear in The Godfather: Part III (1990): If they paid Pacino twice what they paid me, that's fine, but not three or four times, which is what they did. (Francis Ford Coppola) came to my farm, parked his car ... went in the kitchen. (I) said: 'I know you always wanted the crab cake recipe, let me cook it for you.' Oh, he loves to eat, so I cooked the crab cake... and he wrote it down ... and he forgot it, so he called twice. He was ... more concerned that he forgot the crab cake recipe than would I be in Godfather III. [January 8, 2004]

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