Editing Robert Duvall (section)

=== Early career: 1952–1969 ===

====Theater====
Duvall began his professional acting career with the [[Gateway Playhouse]], an [[Actors' Equity Association|Equity]] summer theater based in [[Bellport, New York|Bellport]], [[Long Island]], New York. Arguably his stage debut was in its 1952 season when he played the Pilot in ''Laughter in the Stars'', an adaptation of ''[[The Little Prince]]'', at what was then the Gateway Theatre.<ref>Program booklet for {{cite web | url = http://gatewayplayhouse.com/Archive/Playbill/1952/1952_Playbill_LaughterInTheStars.pdf%27 | title = ''Laughter in the Stars'' | date = 1952 | publisher = [[Gateway Playhouse|Gateway Theatre]] | access-date = December 9, 2012 | archive-date = January 21, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230121033354/https://gatewayplayhouse.com/Online/default.asp | url-status = live }}</ref>

After a year's absence when he was with the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] (1953–1954), Duvall returned to Gateway in its 1955 summer season, playing: Eddie Davis in [[Ronald Alexander (playwright)|Ronald Alexander]]'s ''[[Time Out for Ginger]]'' (July 1955), Hal Carter in [[William Inge]]'s ''[[Picnic (play)|Picnic]]'' (July 1955), Charles Wilder in [[John Willard (playwright)|John Willard]]'s ''[[The Cat and the Canary (play)|The Cat and the Canary]]'' (August 1955), Parris in [[Arthur Miller]]'s ''[[The Crucible]]'' (August 1955), and John the Witchboy in William Berney and [[Howard Richardson (playwright)|Howard Richardson]]'s ''[[Dark of the Moon (play)|Dark of the Moon]]'' (September 1955). The playbill of ''Dark of the Moon'' indicated that he had portrayed the Witchboy before and that he would "repeat his famous portrayal" of this character for the 1955 season's revival of this play.

For Gateway's 1956 season (his third season with the Gateway Players), he played the role of Max Halliday in [[Frederick Knott]]'s ''Dial M for Murder'' (July 1956), Virgil Blessing in Inge's ''[[Bus Stop (play)|Bus Stop]]'' (August 1956), and Clive Mortimer in [[John Van Druten]]'s ''[[I Am a Camera]]'' (August 1956). The playbills for the 1956 season described him as "an audience favorite" in the last season and as having "appeared at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and studied acting with Sandy Meisner this past winter".

In its 1957 season, Duvall appeared as Mr. Mayher in [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (play)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'' (July 1957), as Hector in [[Jean Anouilh]]'s ''[[Thieves' Carnival]]l'' (July 1957), and the role which he once described as the "catalyst of his career": Eddie Carbone in [[Arthur Miller]]'s ''[[A View from the Bridge]]'', from July 30 to August 3, 1957, and directed by [[Ulu Grosbard]], who was by then a regular director at the Gateway Theatre.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://gatewayplayhouse.com/Archive/Playbill/1952/1955/1956/1957. |title=Retrieved January 2–3, 2012. |access-date=April 19, 2013 |archive-date=January 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121033352/https://gatewayplayhouse.com/Online/default.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> Miller himself attended one of Duvall's performances as Eddie, and during that performance he met important people which allowed him, in two months, to land a "spectacular lead" in the ''Naked City'' television series.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

While appearing at the Gateway Theatre in the second half of the 1950s, Duvall was also appearing at the Augusta Civic Theatre, the McLean Theatre in [[Virginia]] and the [[Arena Stage]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]. The 1957 playbills also described him as "a graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse" (indicating that he had completed his studies there by the summer of 1957), "a member of Sanford Meisner's professional workshop" and as having worked with Alvin Epstein, a [[Mime artist|mime]] and a member of [[Marcel Marceau]]'s company. By this time, also July 1957, his theatrical credits included performances as Jimmy in ''[[The Rainmaker (play)|The Rainmaker]]'' and as Harvey Weems in [[Horton Foote]]'s ''[[The Midnight Caller (play)|The Midnight Caller]]''.<ref name="Playbill_ThievesCarnival 1957">Duvall biography at program booklet for {{cite web | title = ''Thieves' Carnival'' | url = http://gatewayplayhouse.com/Archive/Playbill/1957/1957_Playbill_ThievesCarnival.pdf | date = July 23–27, 1957 | publisher = [[Gateway Playhouse|Gateway Theatre]] | access-date = January 3, 2012 | archive-date = December 16, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101216002051/http://gatewayplayhouse.com/Archive/Playbill/1957/1957_Playbill_ThievesCarnival.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="Playbill_WitnessFortheProsecution 1957">1957_Playbill_WitnessFortheProsecution.pdf at gatewayplayhouse.com/Archive/Playbill/1957. Retrieved January 3, 2012.</ref>

Already receiving top-billing at the Gateway Playhouse, in the 1959 season, he appeared in lead roles as Stanley Kowalski in [[Tennessee Williams]]' ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (July–August 1959), Maxwell Archer in ''Once More with Feeling'', Igor Romanoff in [[Peter Ustinov]]'s ''[[Romanoff and Juliet (play)|Romanoff and Juliet]]'', and Joe Mancuso in Kyle Crichton's ''The Happiest Millionaire'' (all in August 1959).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://gatewayplayhouse.com/Archive/Playbill/1959. |title=Retrieved January 3, 2012. |access-date=April 19, 2013 |archive-date=January 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121033350/https://gatewayplayhouse.com/Online/default.asp |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the Neighborhood Playhouse, Meisner cast him in Tennessee Williams' ''Camino Real'' and the title role of Harvey Weems in Foote's [[one-act play]] ''The Midnight Caller''. The latter was already part of Duvall's performance credits by mid-July 1957.<ref name="Playbill_ThievesCarnival 1957" /><ref name="Playbill_WitnessFortheProsecution 1957" /><ref>Horton Foote, ''Genesis of an American Playwright'' (Longview, Texas: Markham Press Fund of Baylor University Press, 2004): p. 103. Retrieved from Google Books, December 31, 2011.</ref><ref>Roy M. Anker, ''Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies'' (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004): p. 138. Retrieved from Google Books, December 31, 2011.</ref><ref>William Esper, Remembrance of Sanford Meisner at The [[William Esper Studio]], esperstudio.com. Retrieved December 31, 2011.</ref><ref>Robert Feinberg, ''Interview: Robert Duvall Reflects on 50 Years of Great Screen Roles'' (Friday, July 30, 2010) at scottfeinberg.com. Retrieved December 31, 2011.</ref><ref>Robert Duvall Biography in ''Journal of Religion and Film'' (1998). Retrieved at robertduvall.net23.net, January 2, 2012.</ref>

Duvall made his [[off-Broadway]] debut at the [[Gate Theatre (New York City)|Gate Theater]] as Frank Gardner in [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''[[Mrs. Warren's Profession]]'' on June 25, 1958. This play closed three days later (June 28) after five performances. His other early off-Broadway credits include the role of Doug in the premiere of [[Michael Shurtleff]]'s ''[[Call Me by My Rightful Name]]'' on January 31, 1961, at One Sheridan Square and the role of Bob Smith in the premiere of [[William Snyder (playwright)|William Snyder]]'s ''[[The Days and Nights of BeeBee Fenstermaker]]'' on September 17, 1962, until June 9, 1963, at the [[Sheridan Square Playhouse]].

His most notable off-Broadway performance, for which he won an [[Obie Award]] in 1965 and which he considers his "[[Othello]]", was as Eddie Carbone, again, in Miller's ''[[A View from the Bridge]]'' at the [[Sheridan Square Playhouse]] from January 28, 1965, to December 11, 1966. It was directed again by Ulu Grosbard with Dustin Hoffman. On February 2, 1966, he made his [[Broadway theater|Broadway]] debut as Harry Roat, Jr in [[Frederick Knott]]'s ''[[Wait Until Dark]]'' at the [[Ethel Barrymore Theatre]]. This played at the [[Shubert Theatre (Broadway)|Shubert Theatre]] and [[George Abbott Theatre]] and closed on December 31, 1966, at the [[Music Box Theatre]]. His other Broadway performance was as Walter Cole in [[David Mamet]]'s ''American Buffalo'', which opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on February 16, 1977, and closed at the [[Belasco Theatre]] on June 11, 1977.<ref>Lortel Archives: The Internet Off-Broadway Database at www.lortel.org. Retrieved January 1, 2012.</ref><ref>"Robert Duvall" at IBDB (Internet Broadway Database), www.ibdb.com. Retrieved January 1, 2012.</ref><ref>Robert Duvall in Broadwayworld International Database at broadwayworld.com. Retrieved January 2, 2012.</ref>

====Television====
In 1959, Duvall made his first television appearance on ''[[Armstrong Circle Theater]]'' in the episode "The Jailbreak". He appeared regularly on television as a guest actor during the 1960s, often in action, suspense, detective, or crime dramas. His appearances during this time include performances on ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'', ''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]]'', ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'', ''[[Route 66 (TV series)|Route 66]]'', ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'', ''[[Combat! (TV series)|Combat!]]'', ''[[The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)|The Outer Limits]]'', ''[[The Fugitive (1963 TV series)|The Fugitive]]'', ''[[T.H.E. Cat]]'', ''[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)|Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea]]'', ''[[The Time Tunnel]]'', ''[[The F.B.I. (TV series)|The F.B.I.]]'', and ''[[The Mod Squad]]''.

====Film====
His film debut was as [[Boo Radley]] in the critically acclaimed ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird (film)|To Kill a Mockingbird]]'' (1962). He was cast in the film on the recommendation of screenwriter [[Horton Foote]], who met Duvall at [[Neighborhood Playhouse]] during a 1957 production of Foote's play, ''The Midnight Caller''. Foote, who collaborated with Duvall many more times over the course of their careers, said he believed Duvall had a particular love of common people and ability to infuse fascinating revelations into his roles. Foote has described Duvall as "our number one actor".<ref name="Miracles">{{cite video |people = [[Bruce Beresford]] (actor), Robert Duvall (actor), [[Horton Foote]] (actor), Gary Hertz (director), [[Tess Harper]] (actress) |date = April 16, 2002 |title = Miracles & Mercies |url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383509/ |medium = Documentary |publisher = [[Blue Underground]] |location = [[West Hollywood, California|West Hollywood]], California |access-date = January 28, 2008 |archive-date = October 2, 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181002123343/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383509/ |url-status = live }}</ref>

After ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', Duvall appeared in a number of films during the 1960s, mostly in midsized parts, but also in a few larger supporting roles. Some of his more notable appearances include the role of Capt. Paul Cabot Winston in ''[[Captain Newman, M.D.]]'' (1963), Chiz in ''[[Countdown (1968 film)|Countdown]]'' (1968), and Gordon in ''[[The Rain People]]''. Duvall had a small part as a cab driver who ferries McQueen around just before the chase scene in the film ''[[Bullitt]]'' (1968). He was the notorious malefactor "Lucky" Ned Pepper in ''[[True Grit (1969 film)|True Grit]]'' (1969), in which he engaged in a climactic shootout with [[John Wayne]]'s [[Rooster Cogburn (character)|Rooster Cogburn]] on horseback.