Los Angeles: Robert Duvall, the veteran actor known for his roles as the suave mafia lawyer in The Godfather and the surfing-obsessed Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, has passed away at the age of 95, his wife Luciana Duvall confirmed on Monday.

“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 Academy Award for Best Actor and received six other Oscar nominations. His six-decade career saw him excel in both lead and supporting roles, eventually stepping behind the camera as a director, and he continued acting well into his 90s.

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“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 the Oscar in 1983 for his performance as a washed-up country singer in Tender Mercies. He is also remembered for portraying the soft-spoken, loyal consigliere Tom Hagen in The Godfather films and the maniacal Lt. Colonel William Kilgore in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now.

“It was an honour to have worked with Robert Duvall,” said Oscar winner Al Pacino, who acted alongside Duvall in The Godfather. “He was a born actor as they say, his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered. I will miss him.”

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Colonel Kilgore, one of cinema’s most memorable characters, delivered the iconic line, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” showcasing Duvall’s meticulous approach to his craft. “That character was originally created to be even more over the top — his name was at first supposed to be Colonel Carnage — but Duvall had it toned down, demonstrating his meticulous approach to acting,” a report noted.

“I did my homework,” Duvall told veteran talk show host Larry King in 2015. “I did my research.”

Francis Ford Coppola, who directed Duvall in both Apocalypse Now and The Godfather, called his death “a blow.” “Such a great actor and such an essential part of American Zoetrope from its beginning,” Coppola wrote on Instagram.

Duvall was a late bloomer in Hollywood, achieving his breakout role as the mysterious Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird at the age of 31 in 1962. He went on to portray a wide range of characters, from a bullying corporate executive in Network (1976) to a Marine officer in The Great Santini (1979), and eventually his star-making role in Tender Mercies.

British actress Jane Seymour, who co-starred with Duvall in The Stars Fell on Henrietta (1995), shared a heartfelt tribute on Instagram. “We were able to share in his love of barbecue and even a little tango. Those moments off camera were just as memorable as the work itself,” she wrote.

US actor Alec Baldwin also paid tribute, highlighting Duvall’s technical mastery. “When he did To Kill A Mockingbird, he just destroyed you with his performance of Boo Radley, he used not a single word of dialogue, not a single word, and he just shatters you,” Baldwin said.

Film critic Elaine Mancini once called Duvall “the most technically proficient, the most versatile, and the most convincing actor on the screen in the United States.”