Robert Duvall: 15 Essential Roles

From cops and cowboys to cool-headed consiglieres, the actor turned in game-changing performances over his remarkable 60-plus-year screen career Screen Icon Robert Duvall: 15 Essential Roles From cops and cowboys to cool-headed consiglieres, the actor turned in game-changing performances over his remarkable 60-plus-year screen career By Rolling Stone Rolling Stone Contact Rolling Stone by Email Bleachers, Muna, Victoria Monét, and All the Songs You Need to Know This Week J. Cole, Megan Moroney, Zayn and All the Songs You Need to Know This Week Rolling Stone’s SXSW Future of Music Showcase Reveals Full Lineup View all posts by Rolling Stone February 16, 2026 Everett Images, 4 Robert Duvall may have been the epitome of gravitas onscreen. Whether he was playing a stern patriarch, a ruthless corporate boss, a morally bankrupt military officer, or a grizzled ex-con, he captured the quiet essence of the man, conveying a character’s entire life force through one look. Duvall grounded roles that could be over-the-top in the wrong hands, and was content to play second fiddle if his talents served the story… though never without stealing scenes. His screen career spanned from 1960 to 2022, nearly all of those decades filled with exceptional work. Here are our 15 favorite roles from an incredible filmography. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ (1962) The story goes that the legendary playwright Horton Foote saw Robert Duvall in a 1957 production of his work The Midnight Caller, and that inspired him to recommend the young actor for Duvall’s film debut in director Robert Mulligan’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s beloved To Kill a Mockingbird. Radley is a complex role, a character who is an outsider to the entire community and ends up being a savior to the Finch children. Duvall imbues him with such graceful interiority, playing him as three-dimensional instead of just a convenient plot device. Radley saves Jem and Scout, which makes him a hero, but he’s still the outsider in fictional Maycomb, Alabama, the one who the local kids (and some adults) found terrifying. After he saves her near the end of the film, Boo gives a look to Jem that conveys a well of affection and pride without a single line of dialogue. Duvall would carve out a career of characters who contained that silent strength, and it started here. —Brian Tallerico