Actor Robert Duvall, star of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, dead at 95

Robert Duvall, who played the smooth mafia lawyer in The Godfather and stole the show with his depiction of a surfing-crazed colonel in Apocalypse Now, has died at the age of 95.

His death on Sunday was confirmed by his wife Luciana Duvall.

“Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home,” she wrote.

Blunt-talking, prolific and glitz-averse, Duvall won an Oscar for best actor and was nominated six other times. Over his six decades-long career, he shone in both lead and supporting roles, and eventually became a director.

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

“His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court.”

Duvall won his Academy Award in 1983 for playing a washed-up country singer in Tender Mercies.