Considered one of the best American actors with over six decades of work, Robert Duvall passed away last Sunday at the age of 95. His debut couldn't have had a better introduction than with the classic To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), starring Gregory Peck.
After graduating from college and serving in the Army from 1953 to 1954, during which he briefly served in the Korean War, he moved to New York where he performed in numerous theater plays in the fifties. While studying with the drama teacher Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre he met his close friends Gene Hackman, who passed away last year, and Dustin Hoffman (88).
To make ends meet, he worked at Macy's department store, in the postal service, and as a truck driver.
During the filming of To Kill a Mockingbird, he met the first of his four wives, the announcer and dancer Barbara Benjamin, with whom he was married from 1964 to 1975. She brought two daughters from a previous marriage. From 1982 to 1986, he said "I do" to actress and producer Gail Youngs. In 1991, he married actress Sharon Brophy, from whom he divorced four years later.
His most significant relationship came with Luciana Pedraza, an attractive Argentine woman four decades younger, whom he met on the street. The actor was filming in Buenos Aires and during a break, he decided to look for a flower shop that, fortunately, was closed. After continuing his walk, a 24-year-old woman dared to invite him to the opening of a tango salon as she worked as a promoter and event planner. Gradually, a friendship developed until they decided to live together in 2004.
Luciana, the granddaughter of aviation pioneer Susana Ferrari Billinghurst, has been one of Duvall's greatest supports in recent years. Thanks to him, she made her acting debut (Assassination Tango, 2002) and ventured into directing with the documentary Billy the Kid (2004). The couple lived away from Hollywood, specifically on a ranch in Virginia.
He also spent a lot of time in Argentina, where the actor was a fan of soccer and Buenos Aires, "but I don't like mate tea," he told the newspaper El Clarín. In this South American country, the Duvalls founded the Robert Duvall Children's Fund with the mission to contribute to the well-being of families with impoverished children in northern Argentina.
Despite not having children, the actor always felt a special connection with the little ones. A few years ago, he confessed why he doesn't have offspring. "I shoot blanks. I've tried with many different women, inside and outside of marriage. I thought about adoption, but (with Luciana) we haven't done it yet."
Reflecting on the failure of his first three marriages, the star of The Godfather opened up in another interview. "I don't consider them a failure, but rather part of the journey of life. And with a touch of humor, he admitted what he learned about himself in those relationships: "I'm not that great."