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. Duvall grew up in a military family, living Read more...

Duvall's screen debut was as Boo Radley in the critically acclaimed To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Duvall later played the notorious malefactor Ned Pepper in True Grit (1969), and Major Frank Burns in the film version of MASH (1970), but his breakout role was that of Tom Hagen in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor Read more...

Duvall is close friends with Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman, both of whom he has known since their struggling actor days. He has been married four times, the first to Barbara Benjamin, from 1964 until 1975. He then married Gail Youngs (1982–1986) and Sharon Brophy (1991–1996).

In 2005, Duvall married Luciana Pedraza, granddaughter of famous Argentinian aviator Susana Ferrari Read more...