Talk:Robert Duvall/Archive 1

Duvall's lineage
Robert Duvall's father is a descendant of French Huguenot settlers, hence the name Duvall. Robert's mother is a descendant of General Robert E. Lee. Lee's family originates in Shropshire, England, thus Duvall's mother is of English ancestry. As such, Duvall qualifies as both a French-American and English-American. Also note: these catagories remained part of Duvall's page for the duration of it's existence until Jack O'Lantern turned up and removed them. He has done this (and continues to do so) with numerous individuals even when no less than a dozen others believe it should stay.
 * Find me a source that calls Duval either a French-American or an English-American. Having a French great-great-great-etc. grandfather does not a French American make. And if you can name every one of these "dozen others", I'll give you a million dollars. Please read Wikipedia's Verifiability, No Original Research and Reliable sources policies. Mad Jack 04:42, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

First paragraph of the article itself reads:

''Duvall was born in San Diego, California. His father, William Howard Duvall, was a former US Navy admiral with French Huguenot roots; his mother was an amateur actress and a descendant of American Civil War General Robert E. Lee. His father was a Methodist and his mother was a Christian Scientist; he was raised in the Christian Science religion, which he claims to follow today despite many years living a decidedly un-Christian lifestyle (as he states in a 2006 article in Vanity Fair).''

Thus, Duvall's paternal line of descent traces directly to France, and irregardless of any other possible ethnicity, he qualifies as a French-American, and the category stays.
 * I don't care. That's your opinion. Being 1/128th French or whatever does not make one a French-American - that's my opinion. And we can't use either my or your opinion. Find a source that describes him as a French American or English AMerican and you can put the category in. Not anything that in your opinion makes him that Mad Jack 04:47, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

I believe that the term "French-American" should stay; Duvall is a French name and numerous sources (I just don't have the motivation to get them) affirm that his ancestors were French Huguenots. As for English-American, we do not know the extent of his English blood so I'll agree that it should be taken out. Manticore
 * Are you seriously telling me Duvall should be categoried as a French-American because he had a French ancestor 300 years ago? Honestly, people, we're not dealing with the one drop rule here. If you want to describe Duvall as a French American, find a source that describes him as such! Anything else is a violation of WP:NOR. Mad Jack 17:08, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

I think it does classify him as a French-American, even if it's very, very little blood in him that is French. I'm American, Irish, Scottish, German, and (like most Americans) Cherokee Indian, but I barely have any blood in me that's not pure American. But things like great, great, great, great grandparents and so forth being a certain ethnicity generally passes it down to you (my Grandfather being German, and my great grandfather being Irish, and his wife Scottish, so on, and so on.) Just because it's very little of an ethnicity doesn't mean you're not that ethnicity even in a partial amount. Mattfish 18:25, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Christian Science
There is a category on here detailing his supposed Christian Science adherence. I can only say that this has been disputed as a dubious category. Not much is known about Duvall's religious views. I hope we can find a source. Aaрон Кинни (t) 04:37, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

There's a difference between being raised in a religion and actually practicing it. Duvall was raised as a Christian Scientist, and attended the Christian Science college, and narrated a film about Mary Baker Eddy, and the script for The Apostle has some elements of Christian Science theology (note how he silently prays for the injured woman in the car) but -- as a number of other performers I could name, but won't -- it's highly unlikely he actually practices his religion. No sincere Christian Scientist would live with a woman out of wedlock. WilliamSommerwerck (talk) 16:35, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

I am a relative of Duvall's through marriage. William is correct: he is a non-practicing Christian Scientist.


 * No you're not. And sign your posts. He states here that he believes in "Christian Science," but not does go to church. http://www.adherents.com/people/pd/Robert_Duvall.html The link has a source for an interview where he states "Because my parents were so religious, I attended church regularly. I've always been a believer" I think that warrants a category entry, but since it's "not part of his public life," I'm not going to add it. What do others think? He spoke of his religion on the Letterman show on at least one occasion, but I can't find a link. 64.234.0.101 (talk) 04:33, 9 September 2010 (UTC)


 * I know it has been a long time since I have been here, but I have to ask: Really? YOU know who I am and am not related to?  I'll put a year of my salary up against yours that I am, champ.  Care to put your money where your mouth is?  TiyoJohn (talk) 17:21, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

Robert E LEE & Robert DUVALL
Robert E Lee has a relative handful of descendants set out in the family tree for him at the museum for his former home.

for those descendants - see this link http://www.stratfordhall.org/reltree.html

NONE* of those few descents go to actor Robert S Duvall who claims his mom descends from Gen Robert E Lee which is clearly & plainly NOT* TRUE.

AND the opinion of the research person at that Lee website.)
 * (Both my expert review of all such possible connections

s expert


 * Did Robert E Lee not have brothers/sisters/cousins then? I'm related, however far reaching, to my great aunts cousins aunts brothers wife - even if I share no direct blood tie to her.  For that same reason Duvall may be related to Lee; descended from is a different matter however - which does he claim?--Koncorde 19:06, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Harper Lee has been claime dot be a descendant or close relative of General Lee too, so perhaps Duvall is (very distantly) related to the author of the role which originally got him noticed?--MartinUK (talk) 23:15, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Robert Duvall's movies
Robert Duvall was also in the movie Seven Percent Solution, which I don't see listed among his movies.

KevinGilmartin@SBCGlobal.net —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.131.192.21 (talk) 04:32, 21 April 2007 (UTC).

nothing about his acting
This article is notably silent on Robert Duvall's acting ability. I realize this material has to be imported from outside "respected sources", but it really needs to be done. Robert Duvall is one of the all-time-great actors, and it needs to be acknowledged.

I have never seen a better actor than Robert Duvall, and precious few as good. He has the uncommon ability to disappear into the role; you are rarely aware that it's him. If you have never seen him in the Twilight Zone episode "Miniature", do so. He isn't afraid to play the part as wholly unsympathetic, and the performance is of a quality you'd expect form a first-rate theatrical film, quite unusual for that era of TV.

I don't know if the article's writer wants to change the entry, but the full name of the character Duval plays in Open Range is Bluebonnet "Boss" Spearman. (Really. I suspect the writer stole the basic joke from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.)

WilliamSommerwerck (talk) 16:52, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

An image of Duvall I just uploaded is listed for deletion:
File:Robert Duvall in Lonesome Dove.jpg, used at Lonesome Dove and a template at Family of Barack Obama. Thx wikipeeps.  Just tips me hat but then 〜on thought bows deeply …  06:50, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Orange County, VA Walmart
As I understand it, the Walmart is not planned to be "across the road" but I'm having trouble finding a source with an exact location. There should be a citation for this sentence. Wiki publius (talk) 01:47, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

MASH or M*A*S*H
I was under the impression it was M*A*S*H, and the picture under the article fo MASH points to that too. Which is correct? MrZoolook (talk) 00:06, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

Military Brat, not "From San Diego"
Saying that Duvall is "from San Diego" (as one of the article Categories states) shows a failure to understand how he really grew up. He was the child of a career military family and so never (completely) had a hometown in the sense that most people do. Like many children of career military families, he grew up moving frequently, and so he is not from "San Diego" although you could say that he is from the military, in the sense that he grew up on a series of military bases, and in a series of military towns.

To learn more about this lifestyle, see the Wikipedia article on American Military Brats (not an insulting term, but rather meaning the "nomadic lifestyle and subculture of children of career military families").

This doesn't mean that some of the places that he lived were not important in his life, or even formative, but it fails to capture how he really grew up, to imply, as the Category listing does, that he is simply "from San Diego"--

The more accurate Category listing is Military Brat (again, not an insulting term in military culture). Mentions of places where he lived in the article are relevant though. Many military brats report being influenced by certain places that they lived, but that is not exactly the same as being "from" a single place.

Sorry if that seems complicated, but for those of us who grew that way, it was (in the sense of place, at least), a complicated reality.

67.190.27.217 (talk) 01:17, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

Awful Photograph
Can't someone find a better picture of the subject? It looks like someone went out of their way to display the sorriest looking photo they could dig up. Orthotox (talk) 06:40, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

great man in cinema — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.190.122.16 (talk) 12:29, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

Service number?
How did he manage to serve only 1 year? If drafted, his obligation would have been two. Also, the depiction on the right is not for a PFC.

How in the world is someone's service number encyclopedic? It may be a matter of public record (whether it should be if it is could spark another discussion), but why is it encyclopedic? To prove service? There are many other easier and better ways to do that. Wikipedia is supposed to be an encyclopedia, not a celebrity magazine which might print something like that. (By the time of my service your service number was your social security number, which would hardly belong in the biography of any living person.) Rlquall 15:00, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

Do we want characters Hagen, Radley, etc. bolded? KConWiki 00:59, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

After seeing the old April Fools live action simpson cast, i can honestly say, this guy looks like Burns!

Military service is a bit overdone
Bit OTT to have it in the infobox. The guy did a year, never saw combat and is quoted as saying as "I barely qualified with the M-1 rifle in basic training". It hardly merits a mention.81.132.7.170 (talk) 16:14, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Duvall's leading role in "Tomorrow"
In the 1970s to 1980s section of this listing, Duvall's role in the film "Tomorrow" is not mentioned, which is a bit odd as he considers it to be one of his favorite all-time roles. I'm new to Wikipedia, but it's referenced here on Wikipedia and in my opinion should be added as a film role in that section of his bio due to this fact:

thank you,

Johnny

JohnnyWest333 (talk) 12:33, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

Thank You For Smoking
The Article does not mention that he was in the movie 'Thank You for Smoking"

Maybe you don't include all roles/films, but he was damn entertaining/108.45.122.235 (talk) 19:44, 27 April 2019 (UTC)engaging in a damn entertaining and illuminating movie about our culture.

Can we get a new picture ?
He looks extremely pissed off in that pic. Can't we find a better public domain pic to use ? StuRat (talk) 19:08, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

Extensive list of film/tv work in lede
The list in the opening paragraph of films and television series Duvall has acted in seems too extensive for a lede. Generally articles list the 2-6 or so most notable works in the opening paragraph. I'm not familiar enough with Duvall's work to know which we should remove, but I'd propose starting with Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, as one-off appearances in anthology series (unless in particularly notable episodes of the series) don't seem notable enough for a lede. Waidawut (talk) 18:28, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

Unnecessary anecdote?
I don't want to inject an article with a personal idea of what is or isn't tasteful, but doesn't the quote "Duvall quoted a friend about how being an actor helped in meeting women: "Bob, it’s the greatest leg opener in the world, isn’t it?"." seem pretty well off-color? Besides being more than a little unpleasant, it doesn't appear to contribute anything to the content of the section or the article overall. The reader can understand that Duvall has had numerous formal and casual relationships from the precise descriptions which follow the above line.

Maybe consider for deletion? WhampoaSamovar (talk) 15:04, 26 February 2021 (UTC)

Agreed. If it were not already included, I would expect that few people would suggest adding it. -- Besides, the same source (Vanity Fair article) has several quotations more suitable, in my opinion. Gprobins (talk) 20:42, 3 May 2021 (UTC)