Veteran American actor Robert Duvall has been an integral part of a large portion of Hollywood cinema throughout his lengthy career, thanks to his ability to metamorphose fully into each character he plays. He is also a skilled director, producer, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. One of his most memorable roles is as Colonel Kilgore in the 1979 Francis Ford Coppola film Apocalypse Now, in which he uttered the classic line, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

Duvall also won an Academy Award for best actor for his part as a country singer in 1983's Tender Mercies, for which he wrote and performed some of the songs. In 1997 Duvall won critical plaudits for The Apostle, a pet project that was a long time coming. He wrote, directed, starred in, and funded the picture about a flawed southern minister.

Further Reading:

Duvall, Robert. "The 'Apostle' Speaks." Newsweek. April 13,1998, 60.

Moritz, Charles, editor. Current Biography Yearbook 1977. New York, H.W. Wilson Co., 1977.