ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Robert Duvall, an actor and filmmaker whose career spans seven decades. It started at Principia High School, then on to Principia College, in Elsah, Illinois, graduating in 1953 with a Bachelor's degree in drama.
Something he talked with KMOX's long time host Charlie Brennan about in October of 2006. "I got interested in drama, but as we were talking before, the thing I remember that really caught my attention was that Muny Opera where you go and sit outside in the evening and see these operettas or musicals sung in English. I was kind of a revelation to me and I loved that because I had never seen that before."
Duvall told Brennan about being a standout athlete at Principia High School, but his favorite memory didn't happen on a set, it happened on the football field. "I intercepted a pass in the end zone and went 103 yards for a touchdown and my brother was in the audience and forgot to turn on the camera."
Duvall told Brennan Growing up in a military family, he was a self-described "Navy brat," but St. Louis provided him a creative spark he hadn't found elsewhere.
Robert Duvall's name is on the St. Louis Walk of Fame, though his journey to stardom was once far from certain. He told Brennan about the time at Principia College when "I was floundering academically and trying to find my way. They kind of pushed me into acting, my parents. They suggested it at that stage of my life and it kind of saved me academically. It was an expedient thing at the time, but it got me through."
From those humble beginnings in St. Louis, that eventually led him to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, where he launched his career and went on to win an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, four Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Duvall become what many consider one of the greatest actors of all time. Staring in such great films as the Godfather, Apocalypse Now and the Great Santini.
Robert Duvall passed away peacefully at his Virginia home, he was 95 years old.