Yesterday I got a three-word text message from my son Connor: Kilgore is dead.
I knew, of course, exactly who he was referring to—Robert Duval, the great actor who passed away yesterday at the age of 95. More specifically, Connor was calling out one of Duval’s most memorable characters, that of Lt. Colonel Kilgore, the cheerfully psychopathic Army commander in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.
Everyone, it seems, has a favorite Duval role. For many young dudes these days, it is Kilgore. For others, it’s the soft-spoken but iron-willed Tom Hagen in the Godfather films. For still others, it is the authoritarian Marine dad in The Great Santini, or the fearless Texas Ranger Augustus McCrae. No matter what kind of character he was playing, Duval’s own, real-life character always shone through: smart, fierce, tough, and comfortable in his own skin.
Being a mega-film-nerd, my definitive Duval role was that of THX 1138, the titular character in George Lucas’s first film, which is still one of the most daring and visually stunning movies ever made. THX 1138 also marked one of the few films in which Duval got to play the lead. Most of the time, he was cast in supporting roles, working in the background. Invariably, this allowed him—like Kilgore in his helicopter—to swoop in and steal the movie.
Although he trained with many famous Method actors, he was not generally considered to be one himself. Yet, he could hang with the De Niros, Pacinos, and Hoffmans of the world with seemingly effortless ease. Indeed, as an actor, he could hang with anybody.
For many (White) guys my age, Duval represented the ideal American man. German/Irish but still cool. Macho but not toxic. Smart but not showy.
And funny. Even in the midst of mass-slaughter, Kilgore is funny. So is Santini. So, in his own way, is THX 1138. One of my favorite, later roles that Duval played is that of the craggy old Marine who helps Tom Cruise in the 2012’s Jack Reacher. With just a few lines of dialogue, and a barely suppressed, ghoulish chuckle, he manages to deliver some of the funny moments in recent cinema.
Godspeed, Mr. Duval…!
Ash Clifton, Writer 