Robert Duvall, who has died at the age of 95, will be remembered for a glittering career that saw him appear in two of American cinema’s most iconic films. But let’s not forget the other hundred or so more across a career spanning six decades.

Duvall was as comfortable in disposable fare like Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000) as he was in thoughtful dramas such as True Confessions (1983).

In 1990 alone, he played Tom Cruise’s mentor in the NASCAR epic Days of Thunder followed by The Commander in Volker Schlöndorff’s adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Born in 1931 in San Diego, Duvall was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps and enlist in the US Navy. But his love of acting led him to theatre and television in New York. There, he learned his trade – he once remarked the most important aspect of acting was talking and listening.

He made his film debut in 1962, playing Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird. Duvall dyed his hair blonde and avoided sunlight for six weeks to capture the character’s gaunt, fragile look. From then on, he was rarely off the screen, appearing in classic genre films Bullitt (1968), True Grit (1969) and M*A*S*H (1970).

Film historian David Thomson wrote Duvall was “neither beautiful nor forceful enough to carry a big film”. Yet he was nominated for an Academy Award seven times, winning once in 1984. His most recent nomination was in 2015 for The Judge, where he played........

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