Academy Award winning actor Robert Duvall dies at 95

Legendary histrion Robert Duvall, who won the Academy Award for champion histrion for his relation successful "Tender Mercies", has died. He was 95.

His wife, Luciana Duvall, shared the quality of his passing connected Facebook connected Monday, saying helium "peacefully" died connected Sunday astatine location "surrounded by emotion and comfort."

"To the world, helium was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, helium was simply everything," she said.

A connection from Duvall's typical said "In keeping with Duvall's wishes, nary ceremonial work volition beryllium held."

"Instead, the household encourages those who privation to grant his representation to bash truthful successful a mode that reflects the beingness helium lived by watching a large film, telling a bully communicative astir a array with friends, oregon taking a thrust successful the countryside to admit the world's beauty," the connection continued.

Robert Duvall's vocation spanned 7 decades with roles crossed film, tv and theater. He was known for his roles successful "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now".

Robert Duvall poses for a representation during an interrogation connected Friday, June 5, 2015, successful Los Angeles.

(Photo by Casey Curry/Invision/AP)

Robert Duvall brought a signature naturalism to the roles helium played, an unmannered benignant that infused his myriad characters with a calm strength - a counterpoint to his self-confessed often hot-tempered on-set disposition - and earned him a estimation arsenic 1 of his generation's finest actors. Beginning with his memorable movie debut arsenic Boo Radley successful 1962's "To Kill a Mockingbird," successful which helium didn't utter a word, Robert Duvall went connected to look successful much than 90 films implicit the adjacent 7 decades, moving with immoderate of Hollywood's astir celebrated filmmakers and performers.

Duvall shared the surface arsenic the outlaw Ned Pepper other John Wayne successful 1969's "True Grit," originated the relation of Maj. Frank Burns successful Robert Altman's 1970 acheronian drama "M*A*S*H," and starred successful the rubric relation successful "Star Wars" creator George Lucas' 1971 directorial debut, "THX 1138." Duvall besides played Corleone household consigliere Tom Hagen successful Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II" other his acting hero, Marlon Brando, and had a pivotal relation the ruthless web VP Frank Hackett successful the acclaimed 1976 media satire "Network."

As the shirtless, cowboy hat-wearing Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore successful Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic "Apocalypse Now," Duvall delivered the film's astir oft-quoted line: "I emotion the odor of napalm successful the morning." Four years later, Duvall won the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Mac Sledge, a recovering alcoholic state euphony prima attempting to marque amends successful "Tender Mercies."

"Time teaches you a batch of things. It gets a small easier arsenic you get older," Duvall, past 72, told ABC News' Charlie Gibson successful 2003, reflecting successful his craft. He went connected to punctuation a enactment from his beloved "Lonesome Dove" character, Gus McCrae: "The older the violin, the sweeter the music. Maybe that applies somewhere."

ABC News contributed to this story.