From the classic To Kill a Mockingbird to the blockbuster Gone in 60 Seconds, the Oscar-winning actor’s films covered a stunning spectrum.

Robert Duvall was a forceful and nuanced actor who consistently played with passion and conviction.

Robert Duvall, a veteran actor who appeared in iconic American films such as Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, MASH, and To Kill a Mockingbird, died at 95.

“Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort,” said his wife, Luciana Duvall, on Facebook.

“To the world, he was an Oscar-winning actor, director, and storyteller. To me, he represented everything. His enthusiasm for his art was only equaled by his love of characters, a good dinner, and holding court. Bob dedicated his all to each of his many roles, as well as the truth of the human spirit they represented. In doing so, he leaves behind something permanent and unforgettable for all of us.”

Duvall was probably most recognized for his performance as the cavalry-hatted Kilgore in Apocalypse. Now, released in 1979, provided two of the most commonly quoted pieces of speech in cinema history – “Charlie don’t surf!” and “I love the smell of napalm in the morning”. But he also had a huge impact as consigliere Tom Hagen in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, the reclusive Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird at the beginning of his career, and countless supporting and character roles throughout the years. He was nominated for an Oscar seven times, winning once for best actor in 1984 for Tender Mercies, in which he played a country musician struggling to overcome alcoholism.

Born in San Diego, California in 1931 as the son of a naval officer, he attended college in St Louis, Missouri and briefly served in the army. In 1955, he enrolled at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York (together with James Caan, Gene Hackman, and Dustin Hoffman), sharing an apartment with Hackman and Hoffman. Duvall worked continuously in television and theatre, notably an award-winning part in Ulu Grosbard’s 1965 production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, and got his first film role as the secretive Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird, which was released in 1962.

Further minor appearances in Bullitt (1968) and True Grit (1969) solidified his reputation, but it was his role in MASH – as the self-important Frank Burns, who is continually derided by Donald Sutherland’s Hawkeye and Elliott Gould’s Trapper John – that catapulted him to greater prominence. After appearing in Francis Ford Coppola’s feminist road movie The Rain People (1969), Duvall cemented his connection to the Hollywood new wave with the lead role in George Lucas’ 1970 debut feature, the dystopian sci-fi parable THX 1138; Tom Hagen in the first two Godfather films (he was eventually not cast in the third due to salary demands); and Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, in a role originally intended for Hackman.

Duvall also appeared in more mainstream films, such as the WWII thriller The Eagle Has Landed (1976), the news-media satire Network (1976), and the baseball drama The Natural (1984). He made his directorial debut in 1983 with Angelo, My Love, a semi-improvised drama about a Romani street child in New York. Despite his Oscar for Tender Mercies, he was a commanding supporting presence in a variety of films throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including the Dennis Hopper-directed gang thriller Colors, the Tom Cruise stock car blockbuster Days of Thunder (1990), and the Margaret Atwood adaptation The Handmaid’s Tale (1990).

He returned to television in 1992, as Stalin in the award-winning HBO series directed by Ivan Passer. In 1997, he landed another main role in The Apostle, his second directorial effort, in which he plays a preacher who murders his wife’s boyfriend. He won his third Best Actor Oscar nomination for the performance.

Duvall went on to make two more films: Assassination Tango in 2002, which showcased his real-life skill for the Argentinian dance technique, and Wild Horses in 2015. He proceeded to participate in a wide range of films, from Hollywood thrillers like The Gingerbread Man and Gone in 60 Seconds to unconventional dramas like We Own the Night and The Road. A lifelong passion for football (the “association” variety) led to appearances in the low-budget Scottish drama A Shot at Glory (alongside Ally McCoist) in 2000 and the comedy Kicking and Screaming (2005) starring Will Ferrell.

Duvall continued to work continuously throughout the 2010s, receiving another Oscar nomination for best supporting actor in 2015 for The Judge, making him the oldest male actor ever nominated.

Duvall, one of Hollywood’s most renowned Republican backers for decades, claimed he stopped supporting the party in 2014.

Duvall married four times: Barbara Benjamin (1964-81), Gail Youngs (1982-86), Sharon Brophy (1991-95), and Luciana Pedraza, whom he married in 2005. He had no children.