Editing Robert Duvall (section)

=== Mid-career: 1970–1989 ===
[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan greet Robert Duvall.jpg|thumb|left|Duvall with President [[Ronald Reagan]] and First Lady [[Nancy Reagan]], 1985]]
[[File:Robert Duvall Diane Lane 1989.jpg|thumb|upright|Duvall with [[Diane Lane]] at the 41st [[Emmy Awards]], September 1989]]
[[File:Stella Robert Duvall - Hollywood Walk of Fame - Agosto 2011.jpg|thumb|Duvall's star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]]]

Duvall became an important presence in American films beginning in the 1970s. He drew a considerable amount of attention in 1970 for his portrayal of the malevolent Major [[Frank Burns (M*A*S*H)|Frank Burns]] in the film ''[[MASH (film)|MASH]]'' and for his portrayal of the title role in ''[[THX 1138]]'' in 1971 where he plays a fugitive trying to escape a society controlled by robots. His first major critical success came portraying [[Tom Hagen]] in ''[[The Godfather]]'' (1972) and ''[[The Godfather Part II]]'' (1974), the 1972 film earning him an Academy Award nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]. Also in 1974, Duvall played a corporate director (uncredited) in [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s thriller ''[[The Conversation]]''. In 1976, Duvall played supporting roles in ''[[The Eagle Has Landed (film)|The Eagle Has Landed]]'', and as Dr. Watson in ''[[The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (film)|The Seven-Per-Cent Solution]]'' with [[Nicol Williamson]], [[Alan Arkin]], [[Vanessa Redgrave]] and [[Laurence Olivier]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075194/ |title=The Seven-Per-Cent Solution |publisher=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>

By the mid-1970s Duvall was a top [[character actor]]; ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' described him as "Hollywood's No. 1 No. 2 lead".<ref name=stevenson19770905>{{cite news |title=Robert Duvall, Hollywood's No. 1 Second Lead, Breaks for Starlight |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20067777,00.html |first=Laura |last=Stevenson |magazine=[[People (American magazine)|People]] |access-date=December 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104213721/http://www.people.com/people/article/0%2C%2C20067777%2C00.html |archive-date=November 4, 2013 |date=September 5, 1977}}</ref> Duvall received another Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and won both a BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award for his role as Lt. Colonel Kilgore in ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' (1979). His line "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" from ''Apocalypse Now'' is regarded as iconic in cinema history. The full text is:

{{blockquote|You smell that? Do you smell that? [[Napalm]], son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. But the smell! You know – that gasoline smell... the whole hill! Smelled like... victory. (Pause) Some day this war is going to end...}}

Duvall received a BAFTA Award nomination for his portrayal of television executive Frank Hackett in the critically acclaimed film ''[[Network (1976 film)|Network]]'' (1976) and garnered an Oscar nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor in a Leading Role]] in ''[[The Great Santini]]'' (1979) as the hard-boiled [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] Lt. Col. "Bull" Meechum. The latter role was based on a Marine [[Naval aviator|aviator]], Colonel [[Donald Conroy]], the father of the book's author [[Pat Conroy]]. He also co-starred with Laurence Olivier and [[Tommy Lee Jones]] in ''[[The Betsy]]'' (1978) and portrayed United States President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in the television miniseries ''[[Ike (TV miniseries)|Ike]]'' (1979).

[[Francis Ford Coppola]] praised Duvall as "one of the four or five best actors in the world". Wanting [[billing (performing arts)|top billing]] in films, in 1977 Duvall returned to Broadway to appear as Walter Cole in [[David Mamet]]'s ''American Buffalo'', stating "I hope this will get me better film roles".{{r|stevenson19770905}} He received a [[Drama Desk Award]] nomination for [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play|Outstanding Actor in a Play]].
{{Quote box
 | quote="You can't concoct or push ahead something other than what you have at that moment as yourself, as that character. It's you at that moment in time. ... Between action and cut, it's a nice world, but you can't force that any more than you can force it in life."
 | source = —Robert Duvall on acting<ref name="Miracles" />
 | width = 25em
 | align = right
}}

Duvall continued appearing in films during the 1980s, including the roles of a detective in ''[[True Confessions (film)|True Confessions]]'' (1981), a disillusioned sportswriter Max Mercy in ''[[The Natural (film)|The Natural]]'' (1984) and Los Angeles police officer Bob Hodges in ''[[Colors (film)|Colors]]'' (1988). He won an Oscar for [[Academy award for best actor|Best Actor]] as [[Country music|country western]] singer Mac Sledge in ''[[Tender Mercies]]'' (1983). Duvall did his own singing, insisting it be added to his contract that he sing the songs himself. Duvall said, "What's the point if you're not going to do your own [singing]? They're just going to dub somebody else? I mean, there's no point to that."<ref name="Miracles" />

Actress [[Tess Harper]], who co-starred, said Duvall inhabited the character so fully that she only got to know Mac Sledge and not Duvall himself. Director [[Bruce Beresford]], too, said the transformation was so believable to him that he could feel his skin crawling up the back of his neck the first day of filming with Duvall. Beresford said of the actor, "Duvall has the ability to completely inhabit the person he's acting. He totally and utterly becomes that person to a degree which is uncanny."<ref name="Miracles" /> Duvall and Beresford did not get along well during the production and often clashed during filming, including one day in which Beresford walked off the set in frustration.<ref name="Miracles" />

In 1989, Duvall appeared in the miniseries ''[[Lonesome Dove (TV miniseries)|Lonesome Dove]]'' in the role of Captain [[Augustus "Gus" McCrae]], Texas Rangers (retired). He has considered this particular role to be his personal favorite.<ref>{{cite news|last=Appleford|first=Steve|title=Robert Duvall goes back to Texas for his latest role|date=March 20, 2014|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-robert-duvall-20140320-story.html|access-date=June 16, 2015|archive-date=June 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617020543/http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/20/entertainment/la-et-mn-robert-duvall-20140320|url-status=live}}</ref> He won a Golden Globe Award and earned an Emmy Award<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/robert-duvall|title=Robert Duvall|work=Television Academy|access-date=November 28, 2011|archive-date=September 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930054542/http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/robert-duvall|url-status=live}}</ref> nomination. For his role as a former Texas Ranger peace officer, Duvall was trained in the use of Walker revolvers by the Texas [[marksman]] [[Joe Bowman (marksman)|Joe Bowman]].